Who Do You Say That I Am? "The Everyday Teacher"

Good morning, church. Hey. If we've never met, my name is Josh and I'm glad you're here. And if you are newer around here, you should know you just walked into a room full of just plain old normal people. Just normal people.

We all got our baggage and our sin and our drama and our brokenness and our weird family and all those things. We, we've all got it. And so we just come here, hands open, desperately wanting to come into the father's house, desperately wanting to come into presence with his people. And if that sounds good to you, you're in good company. If you are new or you just haven't really connected in community, if you haven't found a place yet to kind of share the gifts and the talents that God has given you in serving, or if you just have questions, then please stop by the information desk out in the foyer.

We got an awesome team of volunteers there that would just love to meet you and help get you started or answer questions that you have. Over the last few weeks, we've dived into studying the Gospel of Mark. But we're not just looking at the Gospel of Mark and saying, what does this say? We're after one very key thing. We're one specific game to get to know Jesus as he really is.

And to answer the question that Jesus asks his disciples in Mark, chapter 8. We've read this each week. Verse 27. Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked them, who do people say I am?

They replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets. And this is it. But what about you? Who do you say I am? This is the single most important question that we can answer in our lives.

Because if Jesus is who he says he is, if Jesus is who the scriptures reveal him to be, then we only have two choices. We can only either adore him and dedicate our lives to submitting more and more and more to his will and his ways, or we can despise him. But he will not be tolerated and he won't be ignored either. And sooner or later, we're going to have to answer this question. Who do you say that he is?

If you were here last week, it was eventful, wasn't it? At the 9 o' clock hour, we got to experience a power outage. Singing in the Dark together. It was kind of Fantastic, actually. At 11 o' clock, we got to experience another power fluctuation that made all the microphones go out.

So I Was yelling the sermon for a period of the time. But man after that, man after that, did we get to experience some very beautiful things, didn't we? It was memorable. Last week we got to meet Jesus as healer. And at the close of both services, more people than I've ever seen come forward here, came forward to pray and to receive prayer.

People came forward for physical and mental and spiritual and relational healing. And they came forward with open hands to lay their burdens and sickness and sin and brokenness at Jesus feet. And together we just all came and said, like the leper, if you are willing, you can make me clean. And we're already hearing stories of God stepping in. We had multiple people come forward last week with prayers for cancer or because of biopsies scheduled this week.

A woman just came and hugged me at the beginning of the service and said my scan was free.

We had a guy come forward for prayer in his previous scan, it showed that his cancer had spread to other parts of his body. And he got the report on Monday after we prayed over him that just surprisingly, all that spread of cancer is no longer in his scan.

We had a woman come forward. She was carrying the weight, just the burden of giving into something last week that she knew was wrong and it was just weighing her down. And as we prayed, prayed over her, Jesus just lifted that off of her shoulders, reminded her that his grace is enough, and she walked out of here healed and free.

We had couples struggling in their marriage. They chose to drive a stake in the ground and to reset. We had multiple people come forward praying for deep relational brokenness in their homes and in their families. We had people pray for a child with epilepsy to pray for raising their children and feeling ill equipped all the time. We had people come and pray for their loneliness to be released.

It was a beautiful morning and it was just incredible to watch as so many of you just laid down your anxiety and your fear and your pride and you just came and asked for healing. And I don't want to manufacture a moment, but I do want you to know that Jesus, our healer, doesn't just heal. On the Sundays that we talk about him being a healer and the invitation is open. He brings restoration and wholeness and peace in ways that no one and nothing else can. And he wants to heal you.

Something I mentioned last week, but we didn't really explain. We had several people ask about it. We invited you all to come forward and to be anointed with oil by the elders. And so some ask, what does that mean? Well, it's pretty simple.

There's not a lot of explanation for it in the Bible, but in James chapter five, we're instructed that if we are sick to call the elders and have the elders anoint us. And that from that comes healing. And it doesn't explain how it all works. We don't use magic oil. It's olive oil.

I believe the last batch was from Micah Oder's cabinet. So it's not magic oil. It's not a magic spell or an incantation. The elders don't have superpowers. It's just a way that we willingly open ourselves up in faith to what God says he will do.

And we step out with this physical sign of an inward giving up of self and asking for healing.

But church, we believe King Jesus is still in the business of healing. We do, and we have seen it. He wants to heal what's broken. And as I said last week, sometimes that's physical, but it is always spiritual because he is far more interested than healing us eternally than he is temporarily.

Now, before we get into today's topic, let me just pray one more time for us. Father Healer, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, we declare once again, even with crippled faith in some cases, that you are the healer and we ask for your continued healing. I pray for all of those who came forward last week openly and came for healing. And I pray that, Lord, that that would spill way over, out of this room, into our daily lives. I prayed for everyone that kind of hesitated.

Maybe they wanted to come forward, but they had something after service or the line was too long. And I pray that you would just continue to call them in. I pray for those who something kept them some barrier, some lack of faith, some anxiety, some fear, whatever that is. Lord, would you break through that, that they might come to you?

We trust that you are who you say you are. Strengthen our faith in Jesus name. Amen.

Over Christmas break, I decided to renovate a big bathroom. Now, I'm certainly not a professional tradesman, but I've always been handy and thankful to YouTube University. I can do all kinds of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise know how to do. And somehow, between tearing out tile and resetting a bathtub drain, I realized something. I have become fluent in a language that I didn't know existed 25 years ago.

I know how to sister a joist. I know the difference between a P trap and an S trap. I know what plumb level and square actually mean. I know that there are risers and treads on stairs. I know that there's a street 90 PVC fitting and a regular 90 PVC fitting.

I know the difference between mastic and thinset, and I learned the hard way when to use which one. I can identify drywall screws, decking screws, and concrete screws from one another. I can tell you about 100,000 uses for an oscillating tool, when to use a wet saw, or about a closet flange and how to sweat pipes. I know what panhead screws are and that some jobs need green board, some need concrete board, some jobs need Baltic Birch and other jobs you can just use osb. Now, some of you are tracking right along with everything I just said.

You're just kind of nodding because you know these things too. Now, some of you fell asleep on sentence 2 when I started describing that because it sounds like gibberish, and some of you kind of leaned forward a bit because you knew bits and pieces of what I was talking about, but you would maybe never trust yourself to do that work. But isn't it true, especially in today's day and age this time, that while all this might be mysterious or confusing language, that anyone in this room who wants to understand these things can go online, do a full Google search, and watch every YouTube video ever made on the topic? And you can understand this stuff too. Isn't that true?

It's not really a question of access, is it? It's a question of interest. It's a question of pursuit. So, out of curiosity, how many of you, when I said all that stuff, found yourself thinking, oh, this is really interesting. I really wish I knew more about that too.

How many of you knew that language because you've already done these things? And be honest, be honest. How many of you who don't know that language basically don't care? You have no interest whatsoever to know, and you're currently trying to figure out why the heck is he talking about a bathroom when we're talking Supposed to be talking about Jesus. Okay, well, actually, that span of reaction in the room, the difference between curiosity and indifference, between leaning in and tuning out, between understanding and ignorance, is exactly what Jesus is talking about.

In Mark, Chapter four, Mark shifts from telling us about Jesus and what Jesus did to describing what and how Jesus taught. In this section, we read about Jesus teaching by using something called parables. Now, that word, parable comes from the Greek word parabole. It literally means to throw alongside. To throw alongside.

It's the idea of placing one thing next to another thing so that deeper meaning actually emerges from the comparison of the Two things. Now, my whole life growing up in church, I have been taught and have believed and understood that the reason that Jesus taught in parables was so that everyone could understand. It's a relatable, simple story thrown up against a difficult, complex idea. And then you compare the two and bam. Everybody understands, right?

This is what I have thought my whole life, that parables are all about. But Mark uncovers something here that is the thing under the thing under the thing that shows us that there is a lot more to why Jesus teaches this way. Now imagine for a minute you're there in the first century. All you know is there's been this traveling preacher who heals people. Everybody's been posting on social media about it, and they're super excited about the whole thing.

You're kind of intrigued, and you find out that he's coming to your neighborhood. And so you show up to hear him preach and to see him perform some miracles. And here's what happens. You hear this Mark, chapter four, starting in verse three. Listen.

Behold. He's like, don't miss this. Pay attention. Listen and look. A sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil, and when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. And he said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

That's it?

No explanation, no altar call, no wrap up, Just, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. I got ears. I heard it. Huh? What does this even mean?

I gotta be honest, if I showed up looking for miracles and some incredible teaching and this is all I got, I'd be like, I don't get this. He might have cool party tricks, but he should not quit his day job because the guy can't teach.

And he dropped the whole thing like it was impressive. Like, ta da.

I just don't get it. Turns out that's exactly how the disciples felt in the moment. They were confused too. Mark tells us in verse 10. And when Jesus was alone, those around him with the 12 asked him about the parables.

They're like, what was that, Jesus? 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 great, he's going to explain why. Why?

So that they may indeed see, but never perceive, and may indeed hear, but never understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. Oh, this clears things up. What? It sounds like Jesus is saying, I talk in riddles so that people don't understand. Because if they understood well, then they would understand.

And if they understood, then they would come and be saved. This doesn't make any sense at all.

So what does this mean? Well, in this moment, Jesus is actually quoting words from the Old Testament. He's quoting words from Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet from chapter six. And the immediate context for Isaiah helps us understand what Jesus meant. In Isaiah 6.

God sends Isaiah to preach to a people who have already made up their minds. They've seen God's works, they've heard God's words, and over generations they have over and over consistently rejected and resisted him. So God sends Isaiah to speak in a way that doesn't create hardened hearts and confusion. It uncovers them. And that's exactly how Jesus uses these parables too.

Think back to the bathroom renovation and the different responses. Those who couldn't care less have no interest in ever doing the things that they heard about. They just heard noise that was uninteresting. You just moved right along. You have no need in your life to understand that any further.

Those who knew what I was talking about, they nodded along, remembering some of the things that they have already done or things that they want to do in the future. But those who didn't quite understand but wish they did, their curiosity was stirred up. Curiosity leads to asking and seeking and searching, and that all leads to understanding. Jesus is saying, I teach in parables to put out bread crumbs and anyone who wants to follow them can follow them. Now for those whose hearts are closed off, all they're going to hear is noise.

They will not pick up the breadcrumbs, they will move right on. Parables expose unwilling, closed off hearts. At the same time they offer an invitation. An invitation for the curious to lean in to find out more. And that's exactly what the disciples do.

They lean in with curiosity. They ask. And as they do, Jesus kindly explains everything. Which tells me that's exactly what Jesus is looking for. Verse four, I'm sorry, verse 13.

And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? And this might sound like a rebuke from Jesus at First, like, how dumb are you guys? But this is actually a very common practice for rabbis to use with their students to answer a question with a question. They ask more questions so that they'll lean in even further.

He's really saying, if you want to understand why I teach in parables, if you want to understand how parables work, then let me explain this one to you, and it will give you the key to unlock your understanding. Verse 14, he explains the whole thing. The farmer sows the word, and this word for word is logos. It's the meaning under what is said, the deeper meaning under that the farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path where the word is sown.

As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have not, since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seeds sown among thorns, they hear the Word.

But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the Word, accept it, and produce a crop, some 30, some 60, some a hundred times what was sown. And Jesus, in this moment, kind of incredibly, in multiple dimensions at once, he uses a parable to explain why. He uses parables to teach them how to engage with parables and to show them what it will be like for them as they preach the good news that the kingdom of God is at hand. It's this incredible teaching moment.

Jesus explains that the seed, the word, is scattered and sown, and it stays the same. And the variable in the story is not the word, it's not the message. The variable in the story is the soil. And some hearts are hard, some are shallow, some are crowded, some are receptive. And Jesus is saying, this is why people respond to him so differently.

Some lean in, others move on. It's why the same sermon can soften one person and frustrate another. The difference isn't the intelligence of the listener, and it isn't access to some secret. It's curiosity and openness. Now, before we rush to assume we're obviously the good soil because we showed up to church this morning, Jesus doesn't tell this parable so we can label other people.

He tells it so that every listener will examine themselves. Parables aren't a lens for us to view others. They're a mirror for us to look at ourselves. And if we're honest, at different moments in our lives. Every one of us has been every kind of soil in that parable, haven't we?

In fact, at any given moment, parts of our hearts are open and willing and receptive, good soil. While other parts quietly say, jesus, you can plant over here and over here and back there, but you cannot plant right here. I can't give that up. I can't forgive that. I can't trust you with that.

And however deeply we want to lean in, and as we get closer to that mirror, the picture gets clearer and clearer and clearer, to reveal more, to confront more, to challenge more, and to heal more. Now, as we keep reading, Jesus shares another parable. And at first glance, it looks like Mark just moves on from the parable of the sower to give us another random parable. Like Mark is like he taught him parables. Here's a parable.

Here's a parable. Here's a parable. Here's a parable. But these are not random. In fact, Mark strings these parables together, and it's purposeful and it's connected.

Remember, this is all after the disciples leaned in. This is Jesus with his followers. They've leaned in and Mark is teaching us about how Jesus and the Kingdom function. Verse 21, he said to them, do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought into the open.

If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear this refrain. If you want to hear, you can hear. Consider carefully what you hear. He continued. And this is a verse that has been so warped out of its context.

With the measure you use, it will be measured to you and even more. Whoever has will be given more. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. Now, this sounds confusing. And so we lean in.

Jesus is saying that when we lean in and ask, we are functionally good soil. And once the seed of that word takes root and begins to grow in us, it becomes fruit and light that isn't just meant for our consumption and use, but is meant to be shared, to be put on a pedestal so that that light can shine on others beyond us. Once we've been given understanding, once we get it, so to speak, we're not meant to hoard it, we're meant to share it. And the Light as it's shared. It works just like the parables do.

Some will see it and they'll lean in. Some will resist it, some will ignore it entirely. But to those who lean in, those who have will be given more. Those who lean into the light, as they get closer to the light, the light shines more brightly on them. And to those who turn away and keep walking, the darkness only deepens.

Not because the light is any dimmer, but because they choose to distance themselves from it. And as they do, their understanding gets dimmer and dimmer. For those who do not have, even what they do have will be taken from them. And then Jesus continues his string of parables with another layer. And maybe the disciples asked, okay, how do we get people to lean in?

Or maybe he just knew that they would wonder. And he continues, verse 26. He also said, this is what the kingdom of God is like. Now, let me just tell you, that should scream off the page anytime you read those words. Because Jesus said, seek first the kingdom, and everything else falls into place.

And so if he describes the kingdom, which he does many times, anytime he says, this is what the kingdom is like, you should really pay attention. A man scatters seed on the ground. We're like, yeah, we've heard this. Okay, we're back to that. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

All by itself, the soil produces grain. First the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it because the harvest has come. Now Jesus is explaining that in the same way, we can't force a seed to grow. We can't force anyone to lean into the light.

We can't force the word to germinate in anyone's heart in ways we don't fully understand. God is the one doing the miraculous work of germination, bringing life where we can't make it. Our role is both simpler and harder than we often want it to be. Sow the seed. Keep sowing the seed faithfully.

Watch for signs of growth. Tend what's been planted. And as we've talked about before, pay attention to the fields and the vineyards and the orchards. And when the fruit is ripe, we get to take part in the harvest. Now, I can almost imagine the disciples leaning in even further and saying, okay, okay, I think we're starting to get it.

We scatter the seed, we hold up the light, you bring the growth. And when the time is right, we participate in the harvest, okay? But then I imagine the next question forming in their minds. Because they are human. Jesus isn't that painfully slow.

We constantly spread the seed. Most of it just gets wasted. And then one conversation at a time, one life at a time, all at different times, these seeds begin to germinate, and many of them never even make it to Jesus. Seeds are tiny. Growth takes so long.

Wouldn't it be better to do something big, like flashy, something impressive, something that everybody shows up, something instantaneous, not something that takes a lot of time and has a bunch of mystery wrapped around it. And as they lean in for more, Jesus leans in with another parable. And again, don't forget, they're all attached to one another. Verse 30. Again he said, what shall we say the kingdom of God is like?

Or what parable shall we use to describe is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade. Jesus is saying, this is how the kingdom works. The economy of the kingdom is very different than your human self wants it to be. It's built in the small, humble beginnings.

And what looks insignificant at first, something you can easily overlook, you can become discouraged, can grow into something far larger than anyone expected. And even at the end of a parable that seems to be all about small things growing into big things, Jesus quietly tucks in another layer of meaning. When the kingdom grows the way that it's meant to grow, it becomes more than just something large or impressive. It becomes a refuge, a place of refuge for the least of these. What began as a small, almost invisible seed grows into something that offers shelter and rest with branches wide enough for the birds to perch in its shade.

Now let's bring all this down and apply it to our lives. Jesus is revealing part of himself to us in Mark 4. He's showing us he is the kind of king who puts truth and trials and questions and unexplainable things out in our path and gives us the free will to walk right by them or to pick them up and examine them.

He intends for every question mark to be an invitation for us to lean in. And many will walk past. Many will say, if I can't understand this, then I can't possibly follow Jesus. But to those who lean in, he promises to uncover more and more and more and more. Here's how he puts it in Matthew, chapter seven.

Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

So how do we ask and seek and knock? How do we lean in? Well, it requires two things. Humility, willingness. Humility and willingness.

A willingness to lay down our pride, our certainty, our need to be right. A willingness to admit where we fall short. Willingness to be corrected and confronted by hard truths and trust that his way, his path, his boundaries, his wisdom, that they're not meant to restrict us, but to lead us to life. Jesus rewards pursuit. Second, whatever Jesus has caused to germinate in you and produce fruit, whatever light he has given us is not only for hiding away in ourselves and to be consumed by us, but it needs to be put out so that others can benefit from this fruit and light, too.

That doesn't mean being loud or flashy or pushy. It means being faithful. Faithful in your home, faithful in your workplace, faithful in your school, faithful in your cul de sac, faithful in your relationships. This is how the kingdom spreads. Through plain, old, normal, broken, insecure.

Human beings like you and me show up every day, spread some seed, cast some light. This is what it looks like. As plain and normal and insignificant as it may seem. This is what it looks like to be a gospel epicenter. Not a bullhorn on the street corner, not a bunch of spectacle, but a people who get up every day and scatter seed and put the light out and trust God to grow and watch as small, faithful obedience just multiplies and germinates and spreads.

One conversation, one prayer, one invitation, one more person leaning in because we leaned in.

So when you are walking down the path and there's a question mark laying there, bend down and pick it up and ask the Teacher, the great Teacher, what do I do with this, Jesus? Scatter the seed, lift the light, and trust that as we obey, God is doing things that we cannot see or understand.