Discipleship 101: Kingdom Priorities
Mark 1:35-39
Introduction: One of the older, classic books on the Christian Life in my
library, is entitled, Balancing the Christ Life. The author, Dr. Charles
Ryrie (a past president of Philadelphia College of the Bible), breaks down various means that God has given us to maintain “balance” in
our life as a follower of Jesus. Mark’s Gospel is also interested in not
only telling us who Jesus is and what he did, but also showing us how we should
therefore live. We’ve been framing our study of Mark in terms of three
questions: 1) Who is Jesus? 2) Why did He come? And 3) What does it mean to follow Him? To
follow Jesus includes knowing Him as He is, as He is revealed in the Bible. It means trusting in what He did for us in His death and resurrection. It
also means believing Him, taking Him at His Word, and learning from His example. This passage that
we come to today points to the priorities Jesus had, as revealed by his own example.
We need to have the right priorities to have proper balance in Christian Living.
A few hunters in our church may relate to the following story…
A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in
twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering
under the weight of an eight-point buck.
"Where's Harry?" he was asked.
"Harry fell
and broke his ankle looks like. He's a couple of miles back up the trail."
"You
left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?"
"Well," said the hunter, "It
was a close call, but I figured no one was going to steal Harry."
Sometimes our priorities
can be a little off! There are a lot of things that demand our time and
attention. As pilgrims living in a fallen world, how do we maintain balance,
and keep the main thing the main thing? Short
answer: by keeping our eyes on Jesus. A disciple learns from the Master. Let’s
look at this scene in Mark 1, and see what Jesus is teaching us by His example as well as His words.
The BIG Idea: Jesus showed the priority of prayer
and of faithfulness to the mission, rather than striving for “popularity.”
I. Devotion to Prayer and Time with the Father: Jesus prioritized prayer. Clearly,
if it was important to the sinless Son of God, it should be important to us (35)!
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he
departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
First of all, Jesus’ prayer was planned
– “Very early in the morning, while it
was still dark…” The four verbs in this one sentence underscore the
purposeful action of Jesus: He arose early, He departed and went
out, and He prayed. There is no confusing the fact that Jesus was intentional
about getting up and getting alone, very early, and going out to
a deserted place, to spend time with the Father. Prayer was clearly a priority
for Him. C.S. Lewis spoke of the urgency of prayer at the beginning of the day,
The moment you wake up
each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild
animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in
listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that
other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.
Have you been there?
Through the night, or first thing in the morning, your schedule for the next
day is being played over and over again in your mind. There is so much to do! Do
you sometimes feel too busy to pray? Then you are too busy NOT to pray! You
NEED God. At the start of the day schedule time with Him. The Psalmist said in
Psalm 5:1-3…
Give ear to my words, O
LORD; consider my groaning. 2
Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I
pray. 3 O LORD, in the
morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and
watch.
That kind of seeking God,
is intentional, it is planned. The language
Mark uses is a little redundant for the sake of emphasis, “…very early in the morning, while it was
still dark…” It would have been the last watch of the night, between 3-6
AM. After a busy day of ministry Jesus didn’t sleep in, he arose early, planning
to spend time with the Father. H.A. Ironside said, “Prayer was to Him, as Man in perfection, the very delight of His holy
soul as He talked things over with Him who had sent Him.” Prayer to the
Father was not a burden or an obligation, it was a blessed privilege!
It is said that Andrew
Bonar, a great man of prayer, had three rules:
(1) Not to speak
to any man before speaking to Jesus;
(2) Not to do
anything with his hands until he had been on his knees;
(3) Not to read the
papers until he had read his Bible. [Ok, for us it might be
e-mail or Face Book, but the principle holds!]. What are our priorities? We need
to be intentional, planning time with God, or likely we won’t get there. Bonar
said in another place,
"We have not been
men of prayer. The spirit of prayer has slumbered among us. The closet has been
too little frequented and delighted in. We have allowed business, study or
active labor to interfere with our closet-hours. And the feverish atmosphere in
which both the church and the nation are enveloped has found its way into our
prayer closets..."
Prayer expresses our
dependence on God, and our faith in Him. If it was important to Jesus, how much
more does it need to be a priority for us?
Notice also that His prayer was private
– “…He went out to a deserted place…”
Mark reports a few instances like this, we see more in the other gospels
(especially Luke), when Jesus withdraws, and goes alone into a deserted place,
to spend time with the Father. Those “quiet times,” times of solitude, between
Jesus and the Father were important to Him, and such times are important and
necessary for us. We are so “connected” with our network of friends and
contacts, you are never alone it seems, unless you are intentional about it! There
are so many distractions, we need quiet times when we can be still, and talk
with our Father. I read a story from the days before modern refrigeration, when
“ice houses” were used to store ice that was cut out of lakes in the winter and
packed in sawdust…
One man lost a valuable
watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully
raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked,
but their efforts, too, proved futile.
A small boy who heard about the
fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon
emerged with the watch.
Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.
"I closed the door," the
boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard
the watch ticking."
Often the
question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough,
and quiet enough, to hear.
We need planned times,
apart with God. If you are too busy to be still and spend time with God, you
are too busy NOT to be still and spend time with God! Jesus seemed to annoy the disciples a little
by going off by himself before they awoke. He is teaching them, and us, by His
example. We need quiet “alone” time with God. I recently read a story of how
one group of early converts in Africa had learned to spend personal time with
the Lord. They…
…were earnest and regular in private
devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he
would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became
well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it
was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one,
"Brother, the grass grows on your path."
What about you,
brother, sister, does the grass grow on your path? Are you neglecting your quiet times
with the Lord? One of the emphases of
the AWANA Ministry is to teach the Bible, encouraging kids to develop a regular
habit of daily, private time with God. What a blessing if they can learn to
prioritize time with God now!
His prayer was prolonged – “…and he prayed…” The verbal tense is the imperfect, it has the
sense of an ongoing action in the past: “…he
was praying…” We need to pray without ceasing, throughout our day, asking
the Father for direction and help of course. But we also need extended times of
intentional seeking and fellowship with Him. Here, we read that Jesus “…was praying…” It doesn’t give the
impression of a quick text message sent to the Father, but ongoing, prolonged
communion. E.M. Bounds wrote and reflected a lot on prayer. He said,
“The central
significance of prayer is not in the things that happen as results, but in the
deepening intimacy and unhurried communion with God at His central throne of
control in order to discover a sense of God's… [will] in order to call on God's help to meet that need…”
It is true at a human level right, the more time we
spend with someone we love, the better we know them, the deeper our love grows. That is even more true in the relationship
between humans and God. Because as we know Him, as we get a deeper and fuller
sense of who he is, of his holy character and divine attributes, of the depth
and purity of His love for us, our minds are being “renewed,” transformed, and
we begin to think God’s thoughts after Him. We learn God’s will, at least the
things that He has revealed, and we pray in faith, “…thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” We discern God’s
will as we spend time with Him. Jesus did. He showed the priority of prayer and
of faithfulness to the mission, rather than striving for “popularity.” So, we
see Jesus’ 1) Devotion to prayer, and secondly, His…
II. Dedication to the Mission: For Jesus, it is clear that the mission took priority
over popularity. Is that our priority as well? (36-39).
36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37
and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." 38
And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach
there also, for that is why I came out."
39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their
synagogues and casting out demons.
The disciples had a “plan” for Jesus’
ministry (36,37). They woke in the
morning, no doubt ready for another exciting day of healing and casting out
demons. Maybe they wondered how big the crowd would be this day, as the word
got out about yesterday! And then they noticed Jesus was gone, and they went
searching for Him. They had plans for His day! Do you ever have well
intentioned people who “love you and have a wonderful plan for your life?”
We need to guard against imposing “busy-ness” so that people can deal with the business of knowing God and serving Him!
It is like the disciples were saying, “What are you thinking Jesus? You don’t
have time to get off alone and spend hours in prayer! There are people to heal,
demons to cast out!” Have you ever felt that you have too much to do to spend
time with God? “I’d like to pray more…. I just don’t have the time!” I don’t
think we are over-programed as a church, but our lives in general can get full!
Are you busier than Jesus? Are there
more demands on you than there were on Him? If you are so busy that you
don’t have time to pray, you don’t have time NOT to pray! Remember Philip
in Acts 8:12. He was engaged in fruitful ministry in Samaria: “But when they believed Philip as he preached
good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women.”
Like Jesus, who was “successful,” he obeyed
the Father, and he left what was “good” to continue the mission of God (38).
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the
south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert
place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a
eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge
of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was
returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip,
"Go over and join this chariot." (Acts 8:26-29).
Think about what God
did. Philip was
involved in the conversion of the Samaritans—many heard and believed the
Gospel. Many were being added to their
number. But… God had a plan. And a lone official, a eunuch at that, was
returning to Africa. God sent out a missionary, a witness, to “intercept” him.
He was available, and obedient. God had a plan, and the Gospel gained a witness,
and ultimately a foothold, in North Africa.
Here in Mark 1, things were seemingly
going great in Capernaum. The crowds were big at least. But it seems that many
were coming exclusively because they had heard of the miracles, and they sought
the physical healing that Jesus could give. As we read the gospels, we see that
the Jews were enamored by miracles. But they were not an end in themselves. They
did give a preliminary “glimpse” into the future and the blessings of the
kingdom. They were signs, validating Jesus’ words, and proving His identity.
Recall the heart of Jesus ministry earlier in this chapter, summarized in Mark
1:14-15, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
Jesus had come preaching the Gospel,
proclaiming the “Good News” that the Kingdom of God was near, because He, the
King was on the scene! Remember earlier in the chapter, John’s ministry pointed
to the greatest need of humans: the problem of sin. Sin entered into the world
through Adam, and sin brought death, the curse, and separation between humans
and God. The gospel was “good news,” because in Christ it would be possible for
humans to be reconciled to God. Paul said in Galatians 4:4, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent
forth His Son…” But why did He
come? “…to redeem those who
were under the law…” To save
sinners. God’s justice demands that sin be punished. Jesus came to bear
our sins in His body on the tree. Now, as His public ministry was beginning, He
was calling the people to hear Him, to follow Him, to recognize who He is. So here
we see Him devoted to prayer, dedicated to the mission…
III. Finally notice the
Demonstration of the Kingdom as Jesus continued to reveal the truth
through His works and words (39). “And he went throughout all
Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.” Though it doesn’t mention healing here, it
surely continued as we’ll see in subsequent verses. The emphasis here is on the
spiritual healing that has happening. He preached in the synagogues,
correcting and preparing the people to respond to His person and His message…
and ultimately preparing some to respond to His death and resurrection. Even the disciples
didn’t get that yet. They would only understand afterward, when he “opened
their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus showed the priority of prayer
and of faithfulness to the mission, rather than striving for “popularity.”
What would God have me to do in response to this
passage? As we read the gospels, it seems to me that
we are invited, along with the disciples, to recognize who Jesus is, and to follow
Him, learning from His words and from His example. As 21st century believers, there are so many
conflicting time demands that we face, it is easy for us to yield to the
“tyranny of the urgent” and to neglect the essential, foundational aspects of
our relationship with God, and the call to follow Him. We need to keep first
things first, and we need to keep the main thing, the main thing. The
Creator of the Universe knows you and loves you. Do you know Him? Do you hear
His voice in the Scripture? Are you following Him?
Spending
time with Him is a good place to start. Jesus spent time with His Father. Is a
daily quiet time a priority? It is a way to express your faith, and your
dependence on Him. It is also true that it will deepen your relationship
with Him. The more you know Him, the more you’ll love Him, and increasingly, His
priorities will become your priorities. Like those people that God has
providentially and strategically put in your life. Praying for them, and as God gives opportunity,
seeking to point them to Jesus. They need to know Him. We’d like to work
together to help you reach those people God has put in your life: family,
friends, neighbors, co-workers, schoolmates. We have an outreach opportunity
next week, “God and Country Day.” A special service followed by lunch. Who can
you invite? Pray about that, and let’s
see what God will do. AMEN.
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