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"No Limit Ministry" Mark 6:1-6

By Stephen Becker

July 9, 2006

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

www.holyspiritanglican.org

Main Thrust: God works through ordinary people to carry out His mighty acts. People miss God's

mighty works through the familiar and the ordinary because they are blinded by their own expectations

of the way God acts in the world. Those in Jesus' hometown wanted a domesticated Jesus, i.e. one who

is predictable and controllable. Therefore they limit what God wants to do in their lives.

Introduction: In the Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis depicts the kind of questions children ask

when confronted by implications of the gospel. In one scene in The Lion the Witch and the

Wardrobe, one of the children asks the friendly beaver about Aslan the Lion (a figure who is a type

of Christ). And one of the first questions they want to know is this: "Is he safe?" The beaver

carefully responds: "No, but He is good." This question that is posed by the children is at the heart

of a fundamental issue that is going on in our Gospel lesson chosen for today.

Background: Like the Narnia's lion, Mark's Gospel describes a Jesus who went about doing good.

He healed the sick and preached to multitudes. In quick succession, Mark's gospel reports that he

stilled a storm at sea, cast demons out of a mad man, and healed a woman of an incurable disease. He

even raised a young girl from the dead, as we read in last weeks Gospel. But, he was far from being

safe or predictable. And so today in our Gospel, Jesus returns to his own hometown, not as the

same person that they assumed him to be. As usual, he goes to church on the Sabbath, and they

invited him to teach. He stands in the Synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

I. Body: Mark 6:1-6 The Right Questions (verse 1-2): To the credit of the townsfolk, they ask

the right questions. "Where did this man get all this? Who is this man? What is His wisdom?

Where does He get His power?" Until these questions are asked, there is no faith. In my own

journey towards faith I asked such questions. And they drew me into discovering the truth for

myself that Jesus was divine. But in Jesus' hometown something unexplainable gets in the way of

their acceptance and faith. They have what I call "the paralysis of analysis." This is not the Jesus they

thought they knew. And since he doesn't fit into their preconceived categories and limitations, they

end up rejecting him even through their first response was to be absolutely amazed and astonished

at his wisdom and deeds of power that they heard about. In some sense Jesus was so natural, they

couldn't believe he was supernatural. But in another sense, what they wanted and expected was a

domesticated Jesus--one who they can control with their assumptions and predictions--a lion who

has no teeth. A contemporary theologian named Verba Dozier has an interesting point about the

rejection Jesus faced. She maintains that the rejection of Jesus in Nazareth occurs in the religious

place. It does not happen over wine and dinner at Mary's home with relative and friends. It did not

happen at the old carpentry shop, nor in the public square. It happened in the synagogue ...to show

how religious institutions often don't want the "old order" to give way to a "new order." In fact, she

says, that if the "new order" does not offend the "old order," the message may well not have been

heard. As we compare this passage with its counterpart in Luke's gospel, we discover that that is

exactly what Jesus did. After he read from the scroll, he sat down and said, "...Today this scripture is

fulfilled in your hearing." Then He said, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own

house is a prophet without honor" (Mark 6:4). Jesus was prophet and as such, his ministry took on a

roll that challenged people with the truth, even if it caused great discomfort.

Ezekiel from our Old Testament lesson is another example of a prophet. He was a visionary much like

all the other prophets in the Old Testament. For this reason they were also called seers not only for the

fact that they could see into the future, but they also could see beyond what could be seen and were able

to interpret the ways of God for their present circumstances. And in his day it meant delivering an

unpleasant message with unusual and unpredictable methods in order to get the people's attention. The

people had broken God's laws, forsaken his ways and hardened their hearts and unusual means were

needed in order to get through to them. As Ezekiel boldly proclaimed the word of the Lord, he became

more and more unpopular. Much like people today, who only want to hear good things, they rejected

his message of judgment as old fashioned and out of date. Sure we all want to hear that God loves us

and has a wonderful plan for our lives. And this is true, but it is not the whole truth. You see, God's

wonderful plan for our lives includes that we repent of our selfish ways, and align our lives with his

purposes. And if we don't, we will reap the consequences. Our problem and the problem God's people

have had all through the ages is that they have never liked or enjoyed change. But this is precisely what

God's prophets call us to do, because God's purpose for us is transformation. He is calling us out of

this world to be holy and blameless in his sight. But this kind of transformation is never an easy thing.

In our New Testament lesson, when Paul prayed that he would be delivered from his thorn in the flesh,

God did answer his prayer but it was not is way he asked or imagined. Instead he was told that God's

grace would be sufficient for him. Did this message make him feel good? I don't think so. And

sometimes God has a message for us that doesn't make us feel good either.

When the Gospel meets us where we are in the hometown of our lives, we too are confronted with our

own dividedness and ambivalence. Ambivalence means that humans feel attraction and aversion at the

same time. Sometimes we are for him and sometimes we don't like what he has to say. Yet in the

midst of this dilemma each one of us is called to make a decision.

I think our ambivalence is due to the fact that we know things in our lives and in our church that need to

change, but we are not so sure we want to pay the price for it to take place. And the decision that needs

to be made really comes down to being willing to let the Holy Spirit take control of your life?

Understanding the dynamic of letting the Holy Spirit take control of our lives is a bit like

understanding kite flying. If the wind is strong, the kite goes higher and grows smaller and smaller as

it tugs against the string. The harder the wind blows, the higher the kite rises. Then let's say the string

breaks! The kite is free, but no longer soars higher. It is tumbling and crashes to the ground or becomes

tangled in the trees. What kept the kite airborne was the restraint of the string. When that was lost, the

kite was unable to fly. We are never freed until we are restrained by something that pulls us higher and

higher. It is not the absence of restraints that makes us free.

When the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives, we find the strength be "...content with weaknesses,

insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then

I am strong" (II Cor. 12:10). This runs contrary to the language of self-fulfillment and self-seeking

impulses that dominates our "me driven" culture. Jesus, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt,

emptied himself to become fully human. As faithful people of God, we have also found that as we

empty ourselves, the Holy Spirit fills us and dwells in us. Our lives become channels of God's grace

and power. One of the basic principles of kingdom living is that it is lived by grace through faith from

first to last. And if it is by grace, it is no longer lived in the strength of our efforts, but it is God's

presence living and working in you and me. No wonder a young girl when asked the meaning of a

saint, thought of the broken pieces of stained glass that portrayed a saint in one of windows in her

church said, "A saint is a person that the light of Christ shines through." I love this definition,

because we too need to remember this is Christ's strength and grace is meant to shine through the

brokenness of our lives. For where God is enthroned and self is denied the kingdom of heaven is near.

In this assurance I can abandon myself to the will of God knowing that God's grace will always be

sufficient for me. Yet keeping this perspective is quite a challenge.

Illustration using a glass framed picture:

This challenge was pictured for me by a minister named Lolley, who was scheduled to speak as a guest

one Sunday morning in a small church. As he was waiting for the service to start, he decided that he

needed to comb his hair and straighten his tie. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a mirror. But he did find

a glass-framed picture hanging on the wall, and by turning just right, he could see himself well enough

in the reflection to comb his hair and redo his tie. But then he noticed something. The picture behind

the glass was one of Jesus. And when he stood at the proper angle to see himself, he couldn't see Jesus.

But when he turned at another angle to see Jesus, he could no longer see himself. He either lost

himself in the image of Christ or he lost Christ when he concentrated on himself. He couldn't see both

at the same time. Lolley was deeply touched by that experience and he never forgot it. Nor should we.

Faith is the willingness to take our eyes off of ourselves and trust God as we lose ourselves for Christ's

sake. The image of God is allowed to be reflected in our lives.

The Apostle tells us, "And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect as in a mirror the Lord's glory, are

being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, the Holy

Spirit." (II Cor. 3:18).

As this transformation begins to take place, we begin to become a people who take the limits off of

God. We begin to hunger and thirst for righteousness as we daily devote ourselves to the apostles

teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. Then without our even realizing it, our minds and

hearts become so submitted to his will, that his will becomes our will, and his thoughts our thoughts.

We even become a people so submitted to the will of God that we will even begin to glory in our

infirmities, knowing that flaws teach us to know and appreciate the grace of God that is sufficient for

us, when we are weak, than He is strong.

As you look around you today, do you believe that God

would choose to use such ordinary people? If you don't now, I believe you will one day. Because as

God begins to work in your life, you will become convinced of truth that God chooses what is low and

despised in the world, to expose the hollow pretensions and reduce to nothing things that are, so that no

one might boast in his presence. Yes, I believe we can and will be a people who God has called us to

be. A people who take the limits off of God as we grow in an environment of love and faith as we offer

all that we have and are to God.

"God...us is able to do abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine by his power that is at work

within us." "To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.

Amen." (Eph. 3: 20-21)

Prayer:

Dear Lord, grant us the grace to see that your strength is made perfect in our weakness. Help us to

yield our weaknesses to you so that you can fill us with your strength, and display your mighty acts to a

world waiting to see your glory displayed in our lives. In Jesus name. Amen.