I was invited to speak at the International Christian Church in Port Vila, Vanuatu on October 30, 2016. This is what I shared.
Reading: Mark 2: 1-17
What is the difference between a fan and a follower, and hows does failure fit into the kingdom of God?
Last week, Pastor Dave talked about close encounters: about the change that occurs when me and Jesus spend time together.
The week before, he talked about the mission impossible of going out into the world to declare the gospel of Jesus, of finding the one person to walk discipleship with.
This morning, I’d like to consider what that could look like.
For some of us, it is a challenge to reconsider how we believe, for others, probably for most of us, it is a reminder of what’s resonated in our hearts for years.
FAN
In Mark 2, our reading this morning, Jesus meets a crippled man in some pretty extraordinary circumstances.
You can also find it in Luke 5:17-26, it says pretty much the same thing.
He has been lowered through the roof…of the house Jesus is teaching in.
It is packed, it is full of people – the doors are full, the windows are full, there’s no way in.
Cultural belief at the time says that this man is crippled because of sin.
As a good Jew, Jesus knows that, as he hits the deck in front of him. And the words that come out of His mouth are both loving and confrontational.
All He says is,
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Lets reflect for a moment on the effort it took for this man to get here: he could not get through the door, there were too many people.
Windows were packed with people trying to hear what Jesus is saying. The town of Capernaum has a new star, and thanks to His healing power, He has many fans. They’re everywhere. Even the pharisees have stopped in to see the attraction.
Well, that leaves one option: Make a hole in the roof and drop through it like a crippled paratrooper. Of course, his friends are helping him do that.
Now, according to Leviticus 21 he could never be a priest, he would never have been allowed in the temple because of his condition, or to serve at the altar.
Because he was too physically impaired. He probably never even went near the temple.
If he is considered sinful, he is therefore considered unclean, which means most priests aren’t going to want to go near him, the pharisees aren’t going to want to go near him. And yet, his four friends take the time to bring him to Jesus. The effort of digging through the roof and lowering him down on his stretcher was considered worth the effort.
So, he and his friends considered the chance to gain freedom from his ailments to be worth the extra effort. It was worth the effort to get his close encounter with Jesus.
And they go through all of this effort, that encounter was so simple it might have been underwhelming:
“Son, your sins are forgiven.”
But it’s not that simple. There’s so much in that phrase: the Father sees him as His child.
The verse indicates the house was pretty full, and although it doesn’t say it, I imagine it as being standing room only in there.
Based on the law of Moses, the culture of the time was that the priests could not , and the pharisees would not, touch someone as sin filled as this man must be, or touch anyone as unclean, who was sick, or bleeding or dying. TO do that would require them to go through elaborate cleanliness ceremonies before they could return to service at the altar. According to David Guzik, “The name Pharisee meant “separated ones.” They separated themselves from everything they thought was unholy, they would avoid touching people, and even looking at people who were unclean for any reason just in case they were defiled by it.
That gets you thinking about this guys friends doesn’t it?
Back to Jesus: so we have this crippled guy who just drops in to say “hi,” and Jesus was’nt scared, he wasn’t shocked, he wasn’t disgusted by this man.
He looked at him, in all of his destitution and despair, and loved him.
This is the first point:
1 – We must remember that our sin, our brokenness, is not scary to Jesus: it does not stop us from having to a close encounter with him. When we come to him repenting, He meets us there, and we find it worth the effort: forgiveness is freely available.
Reading on in verse 6, we see the pharisees question Jesus’ choice of words. They have just heard him claiming to do what only God could do, and they don’t realise His true identity. They don’t realise He’s the messiah. (One could argue that they never realised it)
But Jesus replies by saying that he is quite happy to show that He has the power not only to forgive sins, I’m quite happy to follow through with what I’ve said.
He says: “…which is easier to say? To say to the paralytic ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘get up, take your mat and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.”
There is a connection point there between healing and sin. And Jesus said “I can forgive his sin, and when I do that, he will be healed as well.”
This is important: when we have an encounter with Jesus, he not only forgives us, but also invites us to walk into the total freedom which comes from having the power of sin taken out of our lives.
Jesus’ freedom from sin requires this man who made such an effort already, just to get there, to make a decision: “Will I stand up? Will I walk in the gift Jesus has given me?”
2 – Our close encounter with Jesus, His forgiveness from sin is the key to the door of freedom from past wrongs, and living in that freedom is probably going to be a strange experience in it’s early stages.
Think about being crippled for years; and you’re suddenly standing, walking, picking up the mat you’ve laid on for all those years! That’s going to be unusual. That’s going to be uncomfortable.
But Jesus invites him to get up and walk, and go and live a normal life. When you’re not used to normal, it’s going to be strange.
So this guy is going to walk out a fan. He’s going to walk out a huge fan of Jesus, because Jesus gave him freedom, and that’s amazing. But this is where our connection with this guy stops. This is where we have no evidence that he went any further. We can imagine maybe he went back to the temple and became ceremonially clean now that he is not unclean, he can restore relationship with the Lord; but we have no evidence of that.
I’d be a fan of Jesus after that, and I suspect this man was.
FOLLOWER
As we read on, in verse 14 we see Jesus call Levi very simply: “Follow me.”
This is where I start to get excited, because the words Jesus uses there, those words are significant.
In this world we live in now, we have lots of opinions (I’m full of ideas and opinions), and even more options for how to express them.
Maybe we will “endorse” a politician; or “like” the Facebook page of a good cause we support;
perhaps we’ll write a positive blogpost about an event we went to.
Or maybe we’ll download that new app which helps us track how well we exercise,
or receive tweets from our favourite musician. Or we’ll be a diehard sports fan and wear all the right branded clothing. We might like a slogan, and pop a bumper sticker on our car; or feel strongly enough about a situation to give our Facebook profile picture a special flag overlay.
All of these things can make a positive difference in the world.
But Jesus didn’t just ask Levi to buy a newspaper, like him on Facebook, or add him on instagram. He asked him to follow.
(Just in case you’re not sure, to follow means: to go, or come after; to move or travel behind)
In two words, he invited this “sinner” (tax collectors in Jesus’ time were considered very disreputable, thieves, traitors and totally untrustworthy) Jesus asked Levi to give up an incredibly good income (as tax collector he could earn a lot), share Jesus’ meals, walk where he walks, sleep where he sleeps, and socialise where he does.
The effect is immediate. In verses 15 through 17, we see Jesus and his disciples back at Levi’s house for a feast.
Most commentaries agree this is a going away party for Levi, so he could say goodbye to his old friends and old life. Of course, because of his job he knew lots of other tax collectors and other unsavoury characters: as a tax collector he was an outcast from society: he wouldn’t be welcome where normal people socialise.
So the Pharisees (how did they know where he was eating?) are offended by the idea that Jesus and his disciples would spend time with sinners. But Jesus’ response is incredibly important to us: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.”
Even though he could see that the pharisees had sin in their lives, he chose to avoid referring to something they could not see, and simply explained that love reaches across the divide, to give encouragement to those who need it.
As I mentioned earlier, David Guzik explains that “The name Pharisee meant “separated ones.” They separated themselves from everything they thought was unholy, and they thought everyone except themselves was separated from the love of God.”
They would avoid socialising with non-pharisees, especially people who were obvious sinners.
In his commentary, Matthew Henry says: “Those are too tender of their own good name, who, to preserve it with some nice people, will decline a good work.”
In other words, if we are so concerned with being seen well by one group, we are likely to avoid loving another group who (arguably) need that love more.
3 – This is one of the realities of following Jesus: we will find ourselves in situations where the Lord’s standard requires us to act, and it may not be comfortable or safe for our reputation. We might find ourselves saying yes to Jesus, in order to express his love, in circumstances which might appear uncomfortable or unsafe.
But I have Good news: comfort is the enemy to spiritual safety, because usually, when we are comfortable, we naturally stop seeking out close encounters with Jesus when we’re feeling comfortable.
So we’re at this meal in verse 15, and there is a cultural issue: now that I’m following Jesus, who do I associate with?
That’s not the only thing we see followers of Jesus dealing with.
In Mark 10:14 they’re told to be kind to children, allowing them access to him without blockage, and goes further and says they must have child like faith. That to receive salvation requires the faith of a child.
And there’s an interesting parallel there between the faith of a child, and the faith of the crippled man: “I’m hurting, I’ve got to get to Jesus.”
Children do exactly the same.
A few verses later in Mark 10:17-25, we see Him explaining that the rich young ruler has to let go of His huge financial security to follow Jesus, because we’re not guaranteed gigantic storehouses.
But then a few verses down again in Mark 10: 29 we see him remind us that when we give sacrificially to follow him we will receive blessing.
Let me read that: “…I tell you the truth: no one who has left home, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, children or fields for me and the gospel; will fail to receive 100 times as much in this present age, and with them persecutions; and in the age to come…”
If you walk away from family, bear in mind that I’ll provide them for you where you go.
And then further down in verse 43 he reiterates that following him is a life of service, not luxury.
In Luke 9, we see Him send His disciples out with nothing at all, except the shirts on their backs. And in verse 57, He explains that we are not even guaranteed a bed to sleep in or the luxury of choosing our timing for following. We get to choose to say yes, but when He calls, it’s time to go.
Further down in Luke 12:22-31, he at least tells us that because he cares for us more than sparrows and lilies, we are guaranteed clothes to wear, and food to eat.
But as a follower of Jesus, that’s the extent of what he guarantees on the way in the door. Food and clothes.
Speaking of food to eat,
We left Mark 2:23, where we see Jesus confronting another cultural issue.
It’s the sabbath, the disciples need food, so as they wander through the field, they pick a few seed heads. Seems reasonable. But according to pharisaical law, it’s not allowed on the sabbath. Again, Jesus explains that the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath, and that the sabbath was made for man: it is designed to be blessing to us, not a burden.
4 – There are times when following Jesus means confronting cultural mindsets which dishonour God’s name and God’s principles.
Perhaps not every time, but in His timing.
Another example is His clearing the temple: what was acceptable to them, was in fact brutally dishonouring to God’s principles.
But if we’re going to follow Him, and sacrifice comforts and confront cultural differences, it’s going to get hard. And there will be times when we lose interest or staying power for some reason. It happened to the best of the disciples: we see it in the life of Peter, he lost his staying power.
FAILURE
Why?
Because since the beginning of time, our relationship with the creator of the universe was supposed to be just that: A relationship.
A give and take.
It was not supposed to be a single transaction in one direction.
Think of our cripple: that’s a one way relationship, he went home a fan.
It was a single direction transaction, he said “Jesus, I need something;” and Jesus said “Yup, here it is.”
(and I hope he rebuilt his relationship with God, following through by being declared clean at the temple)
I cannot think of a single life-giving relationship which relies on one transaction alone.
But when we seek to follow Jesus, we embark on a two way exchange.
Following him means pushing toward him, toward more close encounters. And the exchange is profound: we give him the life we cannot keep, we sacrifice what we think is so important, and He gives us the freedom we could never earn.
We see in the life of Peter a relationship which is important for us to understand. He understood who Jesus was. We see that in Mark 8:27-30 and Luke 9:18-20. “You’re the Messiah”…Peter always looked for more. In his own eyes, he was profoundly loyal.
But he failed. He was a failure. It was such a profound failure that we see it in all of the gospels. He deserted Jesus at the time when it counted most. Not just denying he was a follower, but even that he was a fan! “I don’t Know Him!”
As we look around the world, it’s incredibly easy actually to see the faults and failures of the Jesus people, to see how we’ve failed to express morality in our own lives, in how we’ve allowed our nations to descend into places where homelessness, poverty and parentlessness are commonplace.
It’s really easy for me to look at my own life and find fault in my failure.
My failure to live up to the instruction Jesus gave: to show my love to my God with everything, to show my love for him in obeying him.
It’s no surprise, because the standard God set down from the beginning was so high that the only way for us to resolve the gap was through Jesus on the cross. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we never will reach the standard.
4 – Failure is not just confined to the disciples in the bible, it is all around us.
But so is hope.
The hope of a man trying to reach a saviour through the crowd.
So is joy.
The joy of being called to follow this God-man, saviour-redeemer.
So is Love.
The love we receive because he looks at us and sees His children.
The love which pays the ultimate price.
The love which bought us freedom so that we could “throw off the sin which so easily entangles.”
The love which sent the Holy Spirit to equip us, so that we can go and do our mission impossible.
It’s a close encounter with the God of heaven.
It’s a close encounter with Jesus who hung on the cross.
It’s a close encounter with the Holy Spirit who equips us for our mission impossible.
5 – A close encounter equips us for our mission impossible: go and preach, make disciples.
The first disciple to train is ourselves. And that’s OK, because Jesus has always been grace in our place of failure, He has always been forgiveness in our place of repentance, and strength in our humility. He is where the shame of failure is undone.
So this morning, as we consider the relationships of the fan, the follower, the failure, we don’t need more reminders of what is biblically moral and spiritually ethical.
We need the reminder that the invitation is always open to upgrade from fan to follower, and that WHEN we fail, the gift of the cross is an open door – to come to the foot of the throne of the King for forgiveness, redemption and restoration.
When we learn to live THIS life, the life of following Jesus in every moment of the day, it compels those we walk with to discover the impossible-mission-empowering close encounters with the king.
It empowers those we are with to discover what it is to have a close encounter with the King.
It encourages those who have tripped to try again.
And it declares HOPE to those without it.
The question I want to finish with this morning is this:
Are you a fan, who is thrilled with what Jesus gave you, but you’re watching from a safe distance?
Are you a follower who is drawing nearer every day even though it sure is uncomfortable?
Or perhaps you feel the sting of failure, the need to go searching for the new dose of close encounter and grace, perhaps you feel the need to be where Jesus does his restoring work.
Me? I think I’m a bit of all three.
Whichever spot you’re in, let me encourage you with this, ICC is a family of people trying to be authentic in how we follow Jesus, in how we do life. If you need someone to pray with you or a listening ear, don’t leave today without asking someone to pray with you.