Why does He talk like that?

(This is a revamp of a blog from when we went through Matthew 13, discussing the purpose of parables. Since we are diving into Mark 4, I thought it was a good reminder for us...)

Why does He talk like that?!

Have you ever been around someone that made you ask yourself this (hopefully in your head)? I went to high school with someone who suddenly grew a British accent when she went to work. I am sure she didn’t know she was doing it. But I was just like… why is she talking like that? When did she get so British?

So Jesus, the greatest Person to ever walk the earth, is about to reveal some deep spiritual truths about God. “Want to know about God’s kingdom? Let me tell you a story about a guy who had a bag of seeds.”

In Mark 4, Jesus teaches some parables. What is a parable? The Greek (para) means “something alongside of something else”, or a comparison. It is a hard spiritual truth alongside an easy, earthly story. Spiritual matters are very hard for fleshly humans to understand, so parables help us make sense of them.

Parables can be effective for many reasons. They put concepts in pictures, for those of us who think that way. Parables are also easy to remember and retell. They are also great attention-grabbers!

But why did Jesus talk like that? Why didn’t He just teach the facts? Why did He communicate in parables?

In Mark 4:10-13, the disciples had the same question, and Jesus explains why.

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

So Jesus said He speaks in parables because “they may indeed see but not perceive” and “may indeed hear but not understand”. What does that mean? Why tell a story if people aren't going to "get it"? Parables had a way of revealing truth to some people and concealing it from others… at the same time! If you want to hear God’s truth, He makes a way. But if you harden your heart, you will not be able to hear him! Receive truth, get more; reject truth, stay in darkness! Also an interesting note: Jesus didn’t explain this to the multitudes… He explained this to His disciples!

The bottom line is grace. We are accountable for how we respond to what we know. And the more someone knows… and rejects… the worse the punishment is going to be for them in hell. So God, in His grace, uses a method of clearly teaching truth in a way that can be taught by those looking for it… BUT ALSO missed by those not interested. It’s grace!

The parables have always fascinated me. How can Jesus say so much by saying so little? Join us at Harvest on Sunday as we seek to understand the profound truths taught in simple stories.

p.s. - amazed at the wisdom of Jesus..

The Story of a Leper Who Thought It Was "Opposite Day"

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." 
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean." 
And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 
And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them." 
But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. 
--Mark 1:40-45

In this account, Jesus Christ heals a leper. Leprosy was a common affliction, and though the Gospels record only 2 events where Jesus healed leprosy (the other being Luke 17, where He healed 10 lepers), I imagine He healed many that were not recorded for us in the Bible.

“Leprosy” was a catch-all term for various skin afflictions. This man has what today would be called Hansen’s Disease. This terrible disease is caused by micro-bacteria that attack the nerves and anesthetize the skin. Without the sensation of touch, the victim would be prone to injury. The disease would go anywhere between 10-30 years, and the afflicted usually died from other diseases because they had no resistance.

The disease was also fairly communicable. Therefore in Jesus’ day, lepers were not allowed in mainstream society. The only people they could be around were… other lepers. You couldn’t be home, you couldn’t go to the Temple or synagogue, you couldn’t punch in at work; almost as terrible as the disease itself was the isolation it brought from a “normal” life. In fact, according to the Mosaic Law, lepers had to tatter their clothes so they would be easily recognized, as well as cry out “UNCLEAN” when they were in the vicinity of others. (Leviticus 13)

So this leper comes to Jesus (note: lepers were never allowed to approach people like this!). And the parallel account in Luke 5:12 says this man was full of leprosy. He wasn’t a recent diagnosis; he was advanced stages. He came with an attitude of reverence and met the Savior who had an attitude of compassion. One touch from Jesus took the man from Stage 4 to complete health!

Jesus sent the man off with 2 commands: 1) Say nothing to anyone. 2) Show yourself to the priest. What’s with the commands? Well, Jesus said why the man needed to show himself to the priest: for a proof to them. Show the priest that Jesus Christ is the anointed Messiah, verified by Divine miracles. But why keep mum about this to everyone else? Jesus didn’t say why. But He gave this command a lot, apparently (see Mark 3:12, 5:43, 7:36, 8:25).

To borrow a term from the 2nd grade, the man must have thought it was Opposite Day. He did exactly what Jesus told him not to do. And I think we see in the last verse why Jesus told him not to say anything. The news spread to the point that Jesus was getting mobbed when He went near a city. So popular was this miracle worker that He couldn’t even walk down Main Street because people were coming after Him from everywhere.

The man serves as a positive and a negative example, leaving us with 2 big lessons…

1) Where the leper had a big win: When you ask God for something, remember that HIS will for you is always more important than YOUR will for you. Because He is God and you are… not. The leper (now “ex-leper“) knew Jesus had the power to heal him, but he didn’t know if Jesus willed to do it. "If you will, you can make me clean."The man didn’t lay any claims, He didn‘t tell Jesus what He had to do - he just yielded to God’s will. Yes, pray. Yes, pray specifically. Yes, pray expectantly. Don’t pray presumptuously. Your prayers should ultimately be asking God only for the things that He would want for you. God knows what is best for you; you only think you know what is best for you. So you always want to go with God’s verdict on the matter. This is praying according to God’s will. I am willing to bet 1John 5:14 became this man’s “life verse”.

2) Where the leper failed: When God tells you to do something, just do it. You don’t need to know why.Sometimes God’s instruction doesn’t make sense to us. It doesn’t have to. Even if we haven’t reasoned out the why of a command from God’s Word, we should do what He commands anyways. It’s simple obedience. God doesn’t call us to figure Him out, He calls us to trust Him.

p.s. - Wonders if Simon the Leper, deep down, wished that nickname didn‘t stick

Sometimes the Answer is No

"Sometimes the Answer is No."

Parents, have you ever said that to your kids?

Your child makes a request. “Can I go to Joey‘s house?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“We can’t do that right now.”

“Awwwwwwwwwwwww…!”

“Stop whining. Sometimes the answer is no.”

And then we get frustrated when we ask our heavenly Father for something, and He says no.

Last Sunday we discussed prayer. Prayer moves the hand of God, and we should pray big things. God is never going to be intimidated by a prayer request. And knowing that He is powerful and He loves us certainly gives us plenty of reason to pray.

The burning question, though, we addressed briefly, is this one: “Why doesn‘t He answer sometimes?” Sometimes you pray and pray and fast and pray and fast - and there seems to be no answer. Or the situation even takes a bad turn. The cancer gets worse, the money gets tighter, the marriage is even more strained, the kid are even more rebellious…

This is by no means contradictory to what I said in the sermon or a detraction from Sunday. This is just a reminder. Well, 2 reminders:

1. God is not a vending machine. Prayer is not pressing B5 and getting a Snickers bar. I have seen people’s “faith” shattered because God didn’t give them exactly what they wanted when they thought they should have it, AKA immediately. It's a shame when your "god" is given zero latitude to say no because you have convinced yourself you know what is best.
    
2. God is, however, the most loving and perfect Father ever. He loves us. And He wants to hear from us, and He wants to bless us - but His knowledge is infinitely greater than ours, so His answer may look different than the one you were looking for. But He still answers. And His answer is always better than what we were asking for anyways. It’s like asking for God to remove a thorn, but instead He gives you His strength. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 says something about that.

Sometimes God doesn’t take away the adversity because He intends to reveal Himself to you through it. And I promise you, looking back on this life from the perspective of heaven, you will fondly recall as your favorite memories of earth the times God’s answer to your distress was His presence.

p.s. - Thanks God for unanswered prayers, just like Garth Brooks

Why I Still Struggle With Doubt

We are spending a whole month talking about “The Joy of Assurance”. This is so important, I wish we had MORE time on the subject. I talk to so many Christians that say things like:

Well, I just hope there is a place for me in heaven.

I am hoping I go into heaven. I guess I’ll find out when I get there.

I just hope I’ve done enough for God to let me into heaven.

-------------Have you heard these? Have you said/thought anything like this?

God WANTS you to be confident in your salvation. 1 John 5:13 says I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. (emphasis mine)

God wants you to know, to walk in full confidence. So why do Christians still struggle with this? Take a look at this to prep you for Sunday:

Five Reasons People Lack Assurance of Their Salvation

1 - Some people just do not fully understand the Gospel.

“Security” is the objective truth - the Bible makes it clear that if you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, nothing can take that from you! (John 10:28, among many other verses)

“Assurance” is subjective - the confidence that you personally have that you possess salvation.

Assurance can only come when you agree with what God says about the security of your salvation. And that is a clear truth of the Gospel - if you have received Jesus, you are saved. Forever. Sin, guilt, shame, condemnation - history.

2 - Some people just can’t accept forgiveness.

“I am too bad to be saved,” says the person who doesn’t wrap his heart around the love of God in Christ. Some people really struggle with this, because deep down, we know we don’t deserve God’s love.

But OH - to His glory, He gives His love! It’s an act of grace - undeserved, unmerited favor! But instead of listening to what God says, we give our ear to the accuser of the brethren: Satan.

3 - Some struggle with sin so much that they wonder if they have a new nature at all.

If you are in sin, you will not be in assurance. Don’t misunderstand. Sinning does not take your salvation, but it does take your confidence away. It is hard to feel triumphant when we act defeated, even God has pronounced us ultimately triumphant.

4 - Some don’t know the exact time of their salvation.

You have heard the dazzling testimonies. “Yes! At 9:04 PM on April 17, I received Jesus.” That is so cool. But some people don’t remember the exact moment like that. And that causes them to doubt.

I have a missionary friend that was born in a place where they don’t exactly keep birth records. It’s kind of funny - he isn’t sure how old he is. But because he doesn’t know his birthday, does that mean he has doubts as to whether he is even alive?

Some people have been raised in a Christian home, and feel like they have always believed. Don’t downplay it if you were discipled in the home - that’s the way God intends the home to work, anyways.

5 - Some don’t see the hand of God in their trials.

Some people doubt because they go through a hard season and feel like God wasn’t right there with them.

“Where is God when I needed Him? How can I be a Christian?”

But believe it - the strongest proof of salvation is tested faith. You know your faith is legit when you go through trials and come out the other said saying, “Yet I will praise Him!”

Romans 5 and James 1 both teach that trials test, and strengthen, your faith.

So how can you grow in assurance? Join us this Sunday, August 25, at HBC for the answer to that!

p.s. - If you come to Harvest this Sunday, I doubt you will have doubts afterwards