What Matters

Removing the Cause of Sin

Jesus used some graphic illustrations to communicate the gravity and seriousness with which we should address habitual sin in our lives.  Sin is serious and can choke faith and life from us.  Listen in to discover just how we might overcome the power of sin in our lives... Download removing_the_cause_of_sin.mp3

Journal: Mark 9:2-29

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." (v 24)

A faith healer was in town a couple of weeks ago.  At a good church here on the coast.  No doubt he gathered a good crowd.  Why is it when I hear of such visits my predominant response is marked by cynicism - even doubt?  Why is it that often 'healing meetings' take on the appearance of exactly the sort of spectacle Jesus seemingly sought to avoid in Mark's gospel?  Is my cynicism a result of integrity of faith, or more worryingly faith that is overwhelmed by doubt?

I believe that God has, does and can heal.  I've seen it.  I believe that Jesus did what the gospels say he did - that they are completely reliable in their testimony.  I believe that from the Day of Pentecost, in the power of the Spirit, the church has done even greater things than the One in whose name we minister.  I believe.  I just need some help with my unbelief.

Father, you are completely reliable.  Your faithfulness stands in stark contrast to my faithlessness.  I believe Lord; please help my unbelief.

Journal: Mark 8:27 - 9:1

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (v34)

Jesus gives everything in order that we might enter into relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He gives up power and position; he gives up his life - literally.  In telling Peter of the events that will unfold leading up to his death he profoundly challenges all the expectations of how a 'Messiah' should act.  A barbaric and shameful execution is not part of the script. And neither is part of the script for those who follow to beat a similar path by taking up their own cross.

We want life to be easy.  We want the Christian life to be easy.  But Jesus never promised an easy life - he promised an abundant life.  Jesus never promised a life free from pain and suffering - he promised that we would suffer for our faith, but would also be strengthened for the test by the gift of the Spirit, our Helper.  The Way of Jesus is radically opposed to the way of our culture.  Unfortunately it seems its also a Way at odds with much of what is preached in western, affluent churches.

God, help me to take up my cross and follow.  If I do nothing else but that - it is enough.

Journal: Mark 8:14-26

He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." (v24)

Jesus does not heal the blind man instantaneously.  After spitting on his eyes and laying hands on him the man partially recovers sight.  Only after praying a second time does Jesus restore the man's sight fully.

Why is this particular healing recorded in Mark's gospel - when there are countless others that are mentioned only in passing (e.g. 6:56)?  Perhaps Mark was reminding the community he wrote his gospel for that the healing God offers through Jesus does not always come straight away, but often can be a gift that is revealed over time.

We live in a culture that demands instant results.  Oftentimes that attitude can spill over into the church.  We can treat God has a genie in a bottle who will fulfill our every desire as soon as we name them.  But God's ways are higher than ours, his thoughts greater than ours.  This is no cop out - it is the Truth.

God, help me to strive not so much for the spectacular but for a deeper understanding of your ways.  May I rest in that knowledge and the fact that your ways will always be higher than mine; your thoughts greater.

Journal: Mark 8:1-13

He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?" (v12)

Jesus' ministry had become, at least for some, bread and circuses.  There was always the possibility of the spectacular.  A healing, an exorcism, a miraculous feeding - Jesus was known for the signs and wonders that he performed.  But signs point somewhere.  Wonders witness to something deep and profound.  They point and witness to God.

How often do we look for the spectacular and like many in Jesus' day miss the important.  Jesus was about the kingdom of God and the signs and wonders pointed to that.  They were not an end in themselves.  Do we want to see the kingdom advanced, or are we more interested in racking up another 'experience' of God?

Lord help me seek after the significant rather than the spectacular.  May the eyes of my heart always search for you.

Journal: Mark 7:24-37

He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!") (v34)

Wherever Jesus goes he does the uncommon - the unexpected - the almost unbelievable.  He opens up lives that were closed.  Lepers shunned by society find healing and acceptance.  People possessed by demons are liberated into freedom.  Even gentile women find what they look for (vv 24-30).  Jesus opens doors to new possibilities and new life.

What do I need Jesus to open up in my life?  What do I need to be freed from?  To be a whole person - the person God created me to be I need Jesus' liberating and door-opening presence in my life every moment of every day.  Like the deaf and mute man, only Jesus can open some doors in my life.  Only Jesus can enable me to walk into freedom.

Jesus, thank you for the doors you have opened in my life.  Freedom, forgiveness - love.  Help me to yield to you just as the deaf and mute man did in order that further liberation might come.

Clean and Unclean

Jesus was always getting into trouble.  He and his disciples never did the right thing in the eyes of the religious leaders of his day.  They broke all the well-established, time-honored rules.  And so it is the simple action of eating a meal with unwashed hands becomes the launching pad for a confrontation about what makes a person clean or unclean.  Listen in to find out more...Download clean_and_unclean.mp3

Journal: Mark 7:1-23

'Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with unclean hands?' (v5)

'Tradition is the living faith of the dead.  Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.' (Jaroslav Pelikan) The teachers of the law in Jesus' day had a lot of traditions.  Thousands of them.  So many in fact they obscured almost completely the living tradition that was at the heart of the Jewish faith.  It is easy for us to look back with condescending eyes and wonder how they could be so blind - so foolish - so proud.

How easy is for our own traditions to obscure the heart of our Christian faith.  We easily can be upset by things which are in the end unimportant.  The type of music we sing (or not), the liturgy we use (or not), the clothes others wear to worship...the list is endless.  These things can upset us when all around us a world is craving for a church to present with a unified and courageous voice the wonderful Good News of the gospel.  Now that matters.

Lord, I am as likely as anyone to elevate traditions above the living core of the faith to which you have called me.  Forgive me for those times.  Help me to resist such temptations in the future.

Journal: Mark 6: 53-56

They begged him to let them touch his cloak, and all who touched him were healed (v 56)

Jesus had become a phenomenon.  He was now recognized wherever he went (v 54).  People flocked to listen to him, to watch him - to just be near him.  Jesus did not minister in the 'holy places'- the synagogues or religious sites so much as he ministered in the profane places - the lake shore, countryside and the market places (v 56). The desperate sick longed just to touch his cloak.  A brief encounter with Jesus was enough for them.

How much to I long to be in the presence of Jesus?  Am I willing just to touch his cloak?  Will that do?  Do I believe that even a small touch from God can change and transform my life?

Lord, I believe - help me in my unbelief.  You alone can heal.  You alone can transform.  A day in your presence is worth a thousand anywhere else.

Journal: Mark 6:45-52

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I.  Don't be afraid." (v 50)

Sometimes I remember things I learned back in Bible College!  I remember that scholars have reflected on the deep significance of this story, not just for the disciples cowering in the bottom of the boat, but also for the original audience that Mark was writing his gospel for.

The first church was like a small boat tossed about on the waves, at the mercy of the storm of political and religious persecution that raged around them.  Life was both scary and fragile.  But Jesus came to both those first disciples and to those early Christians with words of reassurance.  The wind died down, the waves stilled.

Jesus came to them.  And Jesus comes to us.  While the challenges and travails we face are in the main far less than those faced by the disciples and early church, nonetheless we need to hear Jesus say to us, "Take courage.  It is I."  When we face the uncertainty of a medical diagnosis, the pain of family conflict - whatever we face - Jesus' presence can still the wind and calm the waves.

Thank you Jesus that your presence stills the storms of my life.  In you I am secure.  With you I am able to conquer whatever life sends my way.