Cambria Pulpit

For many of us there came a time when we had to acknowledge that we could no longer see the way that we used to see. We were going blind. Perhaps the chalkboard began to get blurry, or we struggled to see the words on the page, or maybe we took the eye test at the DMV and didn’t pass, or we went to a routine eye examine and were informed there was a problem. For whatever reason we needed corrective lenses so that we could see again. But when we put them on, we were reminded of colors we forgot existed. We saw signs in the store again. We could read the score on the screen as we watched our favorite sports. Life was good again. In our text this morning, we meet another man who was blind. But his blindness serves for us as a picture of our spiritual blindness and gives us the path to spiritual sight. 

Mark 10:46-52 – And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Sometimes in life we feel as though all is lost. We see all that is happening around us: in our relationships, in our finances, in our jobs, in our health, in our country, and we feel as though there is no hope. But this reveals that we have taken our eyes off of God. In the last text, James and John missed the message of Christ. So Jesus reveals to them again the new ethic in the Kingdom of God. They were blind to His working, so he sought to help them see. So often in life, we are blind to what God is doing. But he is at work, we just need to see. Mark uses another miracle in Christ’s ministry to reveal this important text to us. We will examine this text by looking at the four characters in the text and be reminded that we must call on God in faith if we want to find peace and joy in life.

In 1776, on July 4th, the Continental Congress released a Declaration to the King of England declaring the 13 American Colonies to be free and independent. Every year we joyously celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy because of these men. In that text, the deist Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” If these rights are defined according to the Word of God, we may agree with Jefferson. No one has the right to take another’s life. No government has the right to infringe on the freedoms of men to worship God, and every man has the right to pursue happiness in God. However, whether that was the original intended meaning by Jefferson could be debated and regardless, these words have taken on an entirely different meaning today depending on where one stands on the political spectrum. My point this morning is not to debate the validity of that foundational sentence in the Declaration of Independence, but to use it to point us to an even more foundational declaration made by King Jesus in our passage today. A foundational declaration for the Kingdom of Heaven (a far greater Kingdom than even our own beloved country). This declaration could be summarized as “The right to life, slavery, and the pursuit of service.”

On its surface this seems both terribly anti-American and absurd. But as we work through this text, we will discover that indeed, Jesus is calling us to be good citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven through sacrificial service to others. 

As you may recall, Jesus ended our last text by stating in verse 31, But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The disciples still did not grasp this. So, in our text today, Jesus seeks to inform them and us that our Kingdom citizenship calls us to slavery and service to others. 

In this Drive in Service, Pastor Dave expounds Mark 10:13-31

For years, in the early exploration of North America, the Spanish sought for the fabled fountain of youth. They searched in vain for this fabled spring whose waters created eternal life. Today we recognize this as a fable, but we seek other forms of delaying death. We live in a day that is keenly aware of death. We are taking all measures possible to prevent it. Arguments for opening the economy often center on the emotional toll of the stay at home orders and the increase in suicide. Arguments for keeping the stay at home order in place center on the death toll from the virus. Death is all around us. With this increased awareness about death, comes an increased awareness about life after death. What happens after death? What if I told you that while the fountain of youth is indeed a fable, you can still have eternal life? What if I told you that you don’t need to fear death? This morning, that is indeed what I am going to say. You can have eternal life. You don’t need to fear death. In our text today, Jesus gives us the secret to eternal life: complete surrender to God. 

Through three scenes in this text, we learn the secret to eternal life is complete surrender to God. 

Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published an article which revealed that the marriage rate has plunged to its lowest point since the government started tracking it in the 1860’s. This cannot be explained away as an economic issue, this is at its core a moral issue. We live in a society that no longer sees the purpose of marriage. When people “love” each other, they simply live with one another. There is seen no need for a piece of paper stating that it is legal. This rate comes with devastating consequences and stems from an unbiblical view of marriage. Further, This period of quarantine has forced families to spend significant time with one another. No longer can we escape to our jobs or our hobbies. We must actually spend time with our families. I fear that this will lead to a surge in divorce due to the poor views of marriage today. Last week we began the next section of Mark in which the Pharisees asked Jesus a question that we need to ask today as well, “Does God allow divorce?”

As we work through this text, we will cover the issue by asking and answering 4 questions: What does the Bible say? What is God’s plan? Does God really mean this? And where do we go from here? Through these questions we will see that God's plan from creation was life-long, flourishing marriage. As a result, we will call each other to commit to and be content with where God has you. Last week we covered the first question. The goal today will be to cover the last three.

Recently we celebrated two monumentous anniversaries. At the end of December, we celebrated Harold and Geneva’s 70th wedding anniversary. And just a couple of weeks ago, we congratulated as best we could during this time, Chuck and Barb’s 64th wedding anniversary. That means that for the majority of most of the lives of the members of this congregation, these two couples have been married. These are monumentous anniversaries, in large part, due to the high divorce rates we have seen over the past few decades. Last year, the divorce rate stood at 40%. 4 of every 10 marriages ended in divorce. The average length of first marriages is currently 8 years. 60% of second marriages ended in divorce, and 73% of third marriages ended in divorce. We have a marriage problem in our society. What is this problem owing to? There are several factors, but the chief of all factors is the cheapening of marriage. The idea that marriage is simply a social construct that is created by the government. It is simply a piece of paper. If you want to trace the moral decay in the country, a major milestone you must mark is that, in 1977, 8 states adopted no fault divorce. By 1983, 48 states had adopted the practice. This led to split families and latch key children.

I know that some are now very uncomfortable. So why are we talking about this today? This is not in order to condemn or pour guilt on those who have been divorced. One advantage of systematically working through a book of the Bible together is that it provides very readily for us the next topic. Whatever is next in the book is what we cover next. This also provides the opportunity to discuss hard topics without someone thinking they are being singled out. Why are we discussing this today? For two reasons: (1) It is the topic of the next section in Mark. (2) It is a very important topic that is vital for all to understand today. 

We live in a society that thinks nothing of marriage and divorce. When you fall in love with someone, you might get married to them. And when you fall out of love with them, then you simply end it and divorce them. But as people of the Book, we must always ask the question: Does God allow this? Does God allow divorce? In God’s providence, He provides for us the answer in this text, as the Pharisees ask that very question.

As we work through this text, we will cover the issue by asking and answering 4 questions: What does the Bible say? What is God’s plan? Does God really mean this? And where do we go from here? Through these questions we will see that God's plan from creation was life-long, flourishing marriage. As a result, we will call each other to commit to and be content with where God has you. This text will take us a couple of weeks to get through as this is a dense and important topic.

What is the one issue that divides churches more than any other? What is the one issue that splinters friendships and relationships more than any other? The answer is without question, “pride!” Our natural sinful tendency is to seek our own elevation even at the expense of others. Our natural sinful tendency is to elevate our opinions and thoughts above others. We naturally demand our own way. We naturally seek recognition. In short, we struggle with pride. 

Our society promotes pride, not as a vice, but as a virtue. We label it as confidence, or self-assurance. And we seek leaders whose pride emanates from them. When individuals are struggling with life, our society diagnoses the problem as a lack of pride or self-esteem. Social Media is built on pride. The belief that everyone needs to know what you (or your kids) did today. The belief that everyone needs to know what you think on a subject. Social media is built around love of self. And this love of self, finds its way into the church. The result is a pandemic of churches splitting and failing because of the sinful, selfish pride of its members. Yet nothing could be further from the heart of God. 

At the college I graduated from, each of the graduates received a towel upon graduation. This seemed, even at the time, like a very odd gift. This towel (displayed in my office) has the message on it, “Be Great: Serve!” The longer I have observed churches, the more I am convinced that this message is needed desperately today. In a country built upon the concept of personal pride (Pull yourself up by your own boot straps / You are the only thing that holds you back / you can be whatever you want to be) we need to learn humility.

This is not a new problem. In our text this morning, the disciples illustrate for us the incredible need for humility exemplified by service. And they hear the clarion call of Christ to focus on eternity: humble yourself and serve others. 

A walk through the Easter narrative and a discussion of its importance. 

In the midst of a confused age, one of the challenges for Christians is the idea of faith. What exactly is faith? What does it look like? We know that 2 Corinthians 5:7 states …

2 Corinthians 5:7 – 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 

But how exactly does that work. Does that mean that we throw off all precautions and jump into any unknown? Does this mean that we drive without our seatbelts on trusting that God will preserve our lives? Does this mean that in this time we act as though nothing is different and go about hugging everyone we meet and gathering with everyone we can?

I hope that the obvious answer to these things is “no!” This is not what faith is at all. So, what exactly is faith and what does it look like in our lives? Some of you by now have thought of the definition found in Hebrews 11:1.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is complete dependence on God and obedience to His Word and His Laws. It means that we believe in our heart what the Word says about God and we live in accordance with it. So, we don’t jump into the unknown throwing off all precautions because the Word commands us to be wise and plan ahead. We don’t drive without our seatbelts on trusting that God will protect us or today go about life as if all is normal because the Word commands us to love our neighbor and to honor and obey our authority. 

Faith means that we live lives dependent on God’s power. Unfortunately, we often live lives dependent on our own power. We depend on our own gifts and abilities. We depend on our own goodness. We depend on our own ideas and thoughts. We turn only to God’s Word when those don’t work and often, we try to twist the Word to fit what we think. 

The disciples had been with Jesus for some time now. They had seen Him work in marvelous ways. They had grown in their own abilities. Now Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John and had gone off to some mountain. He left them alone for a time and they began to act in their own abilities. Unfortunately, it ended in disaster for them. Through this next section of Mark, Christ teaches his disciples (and us through them) that His power comes only through faith and submission. And He calls us to believe and depend on Christ to accomplish all things.

As the realities of the current situation continue to set in, many of us have begun to feel the impacts. Some of you have lost jobs. Some of you are facing deep loneliness. Now all of us are stuck at home. For many, this is just another challenge on top of deep life challenges you are already facing. Congress can’t seem to make up their mind. The press conferences from our leaders many times feel unhelpful. For many, we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. Where does this end? When does this end? How does this end? Social media and the news are filled with dire predictions. But we are not prognosticators. We are not experts. We really don’t know. This can lead to deep concern. Even anxiety or worry. How is a believer to respond in the midst of these deep trials? How can we find peace when the world falls apart?

In the middle of his sermon on the mount, Jesus answers these questions. Even when the world is falling apart, the believer can live a life marked by peace. Even when illness, economic depression, or relational struggle strike, we can have a deep abiding peace. Even when you don’t really have any answers and your life seems like one big question mark, you can have peace.  

This is an unusual time. I hope that you miss gathering with the body like I do. That you recognize what we are doing here is a poor substitute for the gathering of the body together. And in these times, it is easy to lose sight of God himself. It is easy to forget that the sovereign God reigns. We see a rogue virus wreaking havoc on the world. And we wonder if God is still in control. We see decision makers (government, business, and church leaders) making decisions that we may not agree with. And we wonder if God has indeed sovereignly placed them over us, and if the command to honor them still stands. It is easy to respond in these times with fear or foolishness. And it seems much harder in these times to see that the Sovereign God reigns. I believe it was the sovereignty of God that had me schedule this text for this Sunday a year ago. For in the text today, we are reminded of the absolute sovereignty of Jesus. Mark reminds us that Jesus is the Sovereign God to whom we should listen. And so, our challenge this morning is to See and listen to Christ.

The disciples finally came to a realization that Jesus is the Christ. But immediately after this, Jesus began to teach them plainly that since He was the Christ it meant that he would suffer, die and rise again. Not throw off Rome and take the throne as they thought. This was unthinkable to the disciples. This went against everything that they believed. So, Peter rebuked Jesus, he attempted to correct this bad decision. Jesus then made an even more disturbing statement. He said that if anyone would follow Him, they needed to take the same path. They needed to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. 

It would have been easy at this time to lose sight of God. It would have been easy at this time to become disheartened and discouraged. Their world was changing, and the disciples didn’t know what to do. Their leader was making a decision they thought was wrong and completely against the Word. How would they respond. Into this environment, Jesus inserts an event to remind the three leading disciples of who He is. And He reminds them that although He was not throwing off Rome and taking the throne, the sovereign God reigns.