Mark Driscoll Audio

If you stop to think about your work, what it’s accomplishing, and why you should keep working, you will likely end up very discouraged, start wearing black, and listening to bands fronted by people whose dad did not hug them enough. But, this kind of reflection on "why we do what we do" is rare because we are so stressed out by our work that we lay awake at night, so overwhelmed by what we have to do that we don’t even have the time or energy to ask if we should be doing it.

Solomon tried to find meaning by enjoying anything and everything apart from God but found it to be a meaningless waste of time. This just goes to prove that you can have a full fridge, full house, full closet, full bank account, full social life, full mind, full stomach, full liquor cabinet, full résumé, full bedroom, yet an empty soul. Everything minus God is nothing. Nothing plus God is everything.

Something has gone terribly wrong and no matter how many organizations we start, elections we hold, wars we fight, dollars we spend, attempts we make, protests we hold, medications we prescribe, bad guys we lock up, or tears we shed, the world is hopelessly crooked and cursed. This bothers us, so we want to straighten it out. The problem is that not only is everything on the earth crooked, so is everyone on the earth. We are all crooked. Every one of us.

According to Ecclesiastes, the evolutionary chart in school fooled us into believing that history is a straight line going up and we are more advanced than those primitive people who came before us. The truth is that history is really a circle, a cul-de-sac to be more exact. One generation after another drives around that cul-de-sac worshiping their idol and trying to outdo their neighbor with more sex, more stuff, more power, more information, and more fame. As fools often do, we mistake movement for progress. With brutal honesty about this fact, Ecclesiastes feels more like a punch in the gut than a kiss on the lips.

Jesus teaches that identity results in activity: who we are in Christ determines what we do. If you are a light, shine in the darkness of the world. Your light also should continue to grow brighter. Maturing as a Christian requires listening carefully to God’s Word and God’s preachers. The powerful preacher George Whitefield (1714–1770) offers six exhortations for how to listen to a sermon. Finally, in the church, serve like family; true family members hear what they are supposed to hear, and then do what they’re supposed to do.

A notoriously sinful woman does the unthinkable: she goes, uninvited, to Simon the Pharisee’s home, where Jesus is eating with “holy” religious men. There, broken and sobbing, she lavishly worships Jesus: falling at his feet, cleaning them, anointing them with her best perfume, and kissing them. Her actions are passionate, but not erotic. She publicly and humbly acknowledges her sin before the most judgmental, condemning, and self-righteous men. Religious people see others’ sins, not their own. Yet “holy” Simon did none of what this woman did (worship, serve, repent of sin, or give generously). She responds so passionately and generously because Jesus loved her much, and she loved Jesus much. When you know how much Jesus loves you, and you love him back, it’s the beginning of your passionate, worshipful, generous relationship, and everything changes. Jesus also deals with her sin. He doesn’t excuse her many sins; he forgives her. What Jesus did for that woman he did for other women who followed him, and he continues to do for even more women today.

Jesus says that “among those born of women none is greater than John.” John was great because he sought answers for his questions about Jesus, because he trusted in Jesus, and because he was fearless in his service to Jesus. John lived a great, big, bold, humble life by the power of the Holy Spirit, and only by that power can we do the same.

John was great because he called people to true repentance (not its counterfeits, such as religious repentance, pagan repentance, worldly sorrow, mere confession, blame shifting, minimizing, and excuse making), because he endured impossible people, and because he suffered critics. Above all, though, John was great because he was filled with the Holy Spirit; like a kite filled with the power of the wind, he flew high and strong. That’s such a better life than a kite that never gets out of the box.

Jesus heals a centurion’s servant, a man who is near death. The religious people still do not understand that it is all about grace, not works or merit. Being a moral, upstanding citizen—like the centurion—will not earn you forgiveness or salvation. Even though the centurion was an honorable man, he still needed to place his faith in Jesus; he did just that and Jesus was amazed at his faith. Jesus is a greater warrior worthy of the worship of all soldiers; we want them to know, love, and serve Jesus, which is why we have a Military Ministry at Mars Hill.

Pastor Mark continues preaching on the Beatitudes, examining principles from Jesus’ teaching: 1) Forgiven people should forgive; 2) Getters should be givers; 3) Leaders should lead themselves; 4) Good trees should produce good fruit; and 5) Truth plus obedience equals a rock-solid foundation. We are all hypocrites who are blind to our own blindness. We need to be uprooted and replanted for new lives and legacies built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ.