“We’re Catching Our Second Wind” 2012

Isaiah 40:28-31 Mark 8:11-25

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NRSV)

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Mark 8:11-25 (NRSV)

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side. 14Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” 22They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” 24And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

In the 1980’s,

a new church began its ministry in the suburbs of Chicago.

Before they held even their first worship service,

the leaders went door to door in the neighborhood

and asked people why they didn’t attend church …

… and what sort of church and church service

they might be willing to attend…

… and based upon those conversations,

they designed their worship and ministry around those ideas.

They use every means possible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus,

and make an all-out effort to be relevant to culture by

doing whatever it takes to grab hold of people's attention.

The church quickly grew to 17-20,000 attending most weekends,

and almost every Christian denomination has sent leaders

to observe and see how they did it, trying to figure out how to duplicate their popularity and success.

But then a few years ago the church’s leadership team

decided to measure the effectiveness of their ministry.

Through a survey and by interviewing their church members

they wanted to find out if they were developing their members

and those who attended into faithful disciples.

They tried to measure spiritual depth and commitment to Christ,

and determine if their ministry really helped those people

grow deeper toward more genuine Christian maturity.

When the results of the survey came back,

they were stunned and very disappointed with the outcome;

that though there were lots of people attending

and all very busy doing lots of church stuff;

yet they hadn't necessarily progressed very far

in developing spiritual depth or making life-changes,

or their relationship with God going to the next level

beyond just the surface of their initial conversion.

The survey results suggested that their church members

were still mostly looking for more spiritual excitement,

and centering primarily on entertainment and feeling good…

… but not really connecting the dots;

that a Christian’s faith and their walk with God

should increasingly inform and direct every detail

about how they live their faith and daily lives.

** Here's the truth: God's purpose in our lives,

is not for our lives to be easy, comfortable or trouble-free,

nor is it to shield us from every struggle or adversity.

God's purpose is that we would know, trust and serve God,

and that we would grow and develop in our walk of faith.

Somehow they were missing the point of Christian discipleship,

and just not getting it, which is at issue in the Mark 8 text.

The Gospel of Mark is built on a flow or series of lessons

that develop through a progression or groups of scenes.

The passage today begins with a scene

in which the Pharisees come to test and oppose Jesus,

demanding a sign, for Jesus to prove his credentials.

Jesus, disappointed in them … turns them down. vs. 12-13

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."

And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

The scene immediately before the Pharisees came to challenge him,

Jesus had just fed a crowd of 4000 with 7 loaves of bread …

… and after everyone had eaten their fill,

the disciples gathered up seven baskets of fragments.

That was a clear and powerful miraculous sign,

but the religious scholars missed the point of the miracle.

Choosing not to see. They were blind, and refused to recognize it.

They came to challenge Jesus and nothing else mattered …

… so in disgust, Jesus turned his back on them,

and as Jesus and the disciples are leaving, vs. 15-16

And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.”

In the Old Testament, the word, "yeast" is usually a symbol

that signifies hidden and subtle corruption of sin and evil,

which is why during Passover Jewish families remove

any yeast from their home, & eat only unleavened bread.

You can’t see the yeast working, but a tiny bit spreads, ferments,

and expands throughout causing the dough to rise…

… so too a little sin can spread, ferment and expand.

* "beware of the yeast of the Pharisees"

indicated the danger of their focus on à

the externals of religion, on rituals and traditions,

that missed the point of a heart-journey toward God.

* "beware of the yeast of Herod"

Herod was a Jew, who collaborated

and compromised with the Romans so that he could be king,

and represents the danger to discipleship,

for those who compromise with culture,

for power or to get along more easily.

* When Jesus says, “yeast” the disciples think “bread”

and suppose that since they have only have one loaf

Jesus must be concerned that

it might not be bread enough for all of them.

It almost sounds like a comedy routine, vs. 17~21

Jesus said to them, "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? … Do you have eyes, and fail to see? …

And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" They said to him, "Twelve."

"And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" And they said to him, "Seven."

Then he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

The math wasn’t that difficult – 4000 with 7, 5000 with 5 loaves,

surely Jesus could manage to feed a mere dozen with one loaf!

The truth is, they had the bread-maker in the boat with them …

… but they don’t see it, they just don’t get it.

à This whole section of Mark is about our call to discipleship:

the obstacles that interfere, corrupt, and get in the way.

* The yeast of the Pharisees,

those who willfully refuse to see or recognize the truth,

and are simply unwilling to follow Jesus Christ.

* The yeast of Herod,

those who so compromise for worldly gain, success and power,

and who are enticed and distracted from seeing the truth

as they blindly pursue wrong and meaningless goals.

* The twelve confused disciples,

who get so caught up in the mundane of enough to eat,

such as did we bring enough loaves of bread

and miss seeing what God is doing all around them.

** In contrast to those who are not seeing discipleship,

it is the blind man who will eventually see Jesus clearly.

This a story of the blind man seeing is a subtle description

of the process of salvation that leads to discipleship,

and is packed with lots of subtle clues and symbols.

The word, “Bethsaida” means “the house of the fishermen”.

A symbol of the early church was a fish, as in fishers of men.

In the story, ‘fishers of men’ bring a blind man to Jesus,

and they beg or pray that Jesus will touch him …

… as hopefully every church prays for

those who don’t see, to be touched by Jesus.

In answer to that prayer, Jesus leads the blind man

to be alone and personal with him, vs. 23

He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?”

The moisture of the saliva can be seen as a symbol of baptism –

the initiation into faith, touched by Jesus he begins to see,

but his faith hasn’t advanced enough to see clearly yet.

When we first believe, we see and we understand some truth,

but we don’t see it all, & we don’t understand fully or clearly.

The second touch symbolizes our ongoing journey toward deeper,

until by the process of faith we can finally see more clearly…

… in contrast to *the obstinate rejection by the Pharisees,

*the compromise of Herod and *preoccupation of the disciples.

The scenes of this chapter lead to the final verses, vs. 34-35

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

Usually that text leads to a sermon

that calls and urges for more commitment and sacrifice.

For some, maybe that’s the message you need to hear,

but I think God gave a different word for me to preach today.

Maybe taking up your cross isn’t always a miserable

or a terrible experience of suffering and martyrdom …

… but sometimes it’s a joy, delight and even pleasure;

the life-fulfilling satisfaction of serving God well,

not under pressure, but having a wonderful time doing it.

I want to affirm the amazing work of our faithful volunteers,

musicians, teachers, deacons, elders, all sorts of workers.

In athletics there is a phenomenon called, “the second wind”.

Typically when an athlete is weary and out of breath,

they suddenly have strength to press on with top performance.

A physiologist might describe it as

endorphin production or non-aerobic glycogen metabolism…

… but I’m seeing a God-thing around here… more like Isa. vs. 29, 31

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless… those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

When I think about our church, where we’ve been, where we are,

I feel more gratitude than frantic urgency to push harder …

… we’ve come a long way, and that’s worthy of celebration.

Wasn’t it sheer delight celebrating at the luncheon last Sunday?

Or this week it was wonderful to see many women who gathered

for morning circle Bible study and mutual fellowship…

… what a delight to see you having such a great time together.

On committee night, so many here working together and so focused

on our mission, planning, building, making a difference…

… seeing you, hearing you, there’s no mistaking your commitment.

I sense a powerful desire to serve and make a difference.

Our Salt and Light ministry was nothing less than incredible.

Energized volunteers saying how much they looked forward to it

--- perhaps almost as much as the children.

All through the church I see volunteers giving, doing, serving …

… and if I were to ask everyone who serves in any way to stand,

I don’t think very many would remain seated ----

-- I’d say this church has caught our second wind!

So many things I see fill me with hope and expectant gratitude,

for clearly God is up to something wonderful here,

and whatever is ahead, what a joyful journey we share.

Our call today, may be to be at least a little more attentive,

that we carefully listen for what God is saying to us,

as we each look for where we might see and perceive with re-energized renewed purpose,

as the presence and blessing of God is revealed.

As Paul wrote these hopeful words of promise, 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!