“YOUR WAY IS BEING PREPARED!”

Mark 1:1-8

INTRODUCTION—BACKGROUND:

            Today, we start a new sermon series.  Recently, we spent 3 ½ months going through Philippians passage/passage.  I enjoyed it!  I learned a lot from my study.  And, I received several positive comments from many of new.

            So, we are going to study the Gospel of Mark in the same way—passage by passage.  How long will it take?  It will take well over a year.  We’ll spend some time away from Mark for special occasions and holidays, but then we will get back to it.  I hope as we study Mark, you will spend time on your own reading/praying the passages.  I hope you will make your Bibles and take notes.  If you have commentaries and Bible dictionaries, use them.  If you want to have a study group or study groups to enhance our study, I would encourage that.

            So, let’s hunker down and begin studying the life of our Lord through the eyes of Mark.  First of all, why are the 4 Gospels all so different?  If you didn’t know better, you would almost say they contradicted each other.  Well, they were written by different people to different people for different reasons.  Even though each writer was inspired by God, they each had different purposes to convey. 

            For instance, Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience.  Matthew was showing that Jesus was the rightful heir to David’s throne.  He was trying to prove the fulfillment of OT prophecy. 

            Matthew’s audience was very familiar with Jewish laws and practices, whereas Luke was writing to a completely different crowd.  He was writing to a predominantly Greek audience.  Luke wasn’t interested in proving the fulfillment of OT prophecy as he was emphasizing Christ’s humanity.  Luke was more the historian, thoroughly researching and interviewing those who knew Jesus—those who saw/heard him.

            John was writing to the whole world, not to a specific group.  But, John’s emphasis was Jesus was truly the Son of God.  John wrote to encourage people to accept Jesus as the Messiah—the Savior of the world. 

            Can you see why/how these 3 Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ could be so different?  Well, where was Mark coming from?  Mark was writing specifically to the Christians in Rome.  Mark’s priority was different from the others in that he was trying to show Jesus as the servant.  Jesus came into the world, according to Mark, “not to be served but to serve.”  And, Mark was trying to convey that we too, should serve/minister to others.  Mark focused not on what Jesus said as much as what he did. 

            Not only was Mark writing to a different audience, and not only was he trying to present a different picture of Christ, but his writing style was clearly different than the others.  Mark probably needed to be on Riddlen.  Mark was ADD!  He was fast paced, action oriented.  Mark would have fit-in with today’s MTV crowd—continual motion and sound bites.  Mark certainly would have been at home playing action-packed video games.  Mark’s Gospel is full of words like “straight-away” and “steadfastly” and “immediately”. 

            Mark was writing to a group of people who were being heavily persecuted at the time.  He wrote shortly after the big fire that destroyed a good part of Rome.  And, Nero, who probably started the fire himself, blamed this religious group—the followers of Christos—Jesus Christ.  And, they were being tortured, and martyred, and thrown out of Rome.  And, Mark was writing to help them to know Jesus and to comfort them in their struggles.  There’s more I could tell you about Mark, but we’ll get to know him more as we go through this study.  But, for now, let’s get into this 1^st passage in his Gospel.

INTRODUCTION—PASSAGE:

            Have you ever had some news that you couldn’t hold in?  You were just bursting to tell someone?  The start of Mark’s Gospel reminds me of someone who just couldn’t wait to tell someone something.  The other 3 Gospels give a rather gentle introduction, setting the scene before Jesus becomes center-stage.  Matthew gives Jesus’ family tree.  Luke tells of Mary being visited by an angel, Jesus’ birth, and the shepherds.  John had a much more serene/mystical introduction—“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.” 

            But, Mark gets right to the point.  He starts abruptly, almost seemingly, out of breath.  Mark’s 1^st words are the title of the book.  Today, we put the title on the outside of the cover in big letters with a picture of some kind.  In Mark’s day, they wrote on a scroll, and the title would be the 1^st words. 

            Mark wanted to get our attention with his title—“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  He wanted to grab a hold of them right away.  My homiletics professor in Seminary was a good ole’ Southern boy, and his favorite expression was, “Get them into your kitchen!”  In other words, when you preach a sermon or write a book, the introduction or title is important.  You want to get their attention, so you can bring them into the kitchen and feed them a fine meal. 

            And, that’s exactly what Mark was doing here.  He was trying to get his readers into the kitchen so he could feed them a fine meal of the “Good News” about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  No messing around with geneology or babies or angels or shepherds.  Get to the point!  Bring them into the kitchen!  So, what it the point of Mark’s opening passage—the one we are studying, today?  “God was preparing their way.”  And…

SITUATION—GOD IS PREPARING OUR WAY:

            Right off the bat, Mark wanted these persecuted/hurting people to know that God has never forgotten them, and He never will.  He was showing them that God had something absolutely wonderful to share with them.  And, here he is showing them that God prepared the way for that to happen. 

            Mark’s readers had heard the message of the prophets.  Maybe not as well as the readers that Matthew wrote to.  But they heard the things the prophets had said—there would be a Messiah.  God prepared His people for the coming of the Messiah through His prophets.  And now, Mark was saying, God worked through this guy called, “John the Baptist”—this strange ranger who was out baptizing people in the Jordan River.  John says, “There’s somebody comin’.  I’m not him.  I’m just preparing you for him.  He’s so much greater than me.  I baptize with water.  He—get this—he baptizes with the H.S.” 

            God sent a Savior, but Mark was telling them it wasn’t just out of the blue.  God had been preparing His people for centuries for the Savior to come.  God had prepared their way for something truly great.  And, God has prepared our way for something great.  No, I’m going to change the tense of that verb.  I’m going to say that God IS PREPARING our way for something great because I don’t think it was just past tense.  I think He continually prepares us. 

            He continually sends His Savior and His saving ways to us daily.  Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ today?  I do!  He is with me at all times.  God didn’t just send him to go to the cross, save us from our sins, go back to heaven, and that’s it until we come to heaven.  God sends His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord/Savior, preparing us continually for what He has in store for us. 

            And God doesn’t stop there!  Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, but God prepares us in other ways.  His Word reveals to us how to live in preparation for everlasting life.  God gives us prayer so we can communicate with Him.  He gives us His Church—His people—to prepare us for community in heaven.  He gives us worship, so we can have a true taste of heaven and what it will be like to glorify Him forever.  He prepares us in the trials/tribulations that we go through to grow in strength/character.  God continually prepares our way, but there’s something we need to do…

RESOLUTION—WE MUST GRAB HOLD OF THE WAY GOD IS PREPARING FOR US:

            John the Crazy Baptist had a message that was worth grabbing onto, wasn’t it?  V.4 says, “and so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  “Repent, confess your sins, and be baptized!  But, more importantly, accept the One who is much more important than me—the one coming who will be baptizing you in the Holy Spirit.”  John is saying in essence, “God is sending you something that is fantastic—He is preparing you for everlasting life—so grab hold of him.”

            I love the fable that Soren Kierkegaard wrote about geese:  The geese in a certain farmyard decided to gather together every 7^th day.  At that time, one of the ganders would mount the fence and preach to his fellow geese.  The pulpit goose would recall the exploits of their forefathers and praise God for the gift of flight bestowed upon them.  The congregation of geese would flap their wings in hearty agreement.  This routine happened every week.

            After the service, the geese would break up and waddle to their respective places in the farmyard and eat the grain the kind farmer had scattered on the ground for them.  On Monday morning, the geese would chat about Sunday’s sermon and discuss what might happen if they took to the skies once again.  They might get lost or even worse, they might get shot.  There was little doubt among them that the best thing was to linger in the farmyard with its security.

            The sermons would stir them and that was sufficient.  It was good to hear what they could be and do as long as they need not do it or be it.  All the while they didn’t realize they were being fattened for the holiday table of the farmer and his friends.

            It doesn’t do one bit of good to know God is preparing your way if you don’t grab onto the Savior.  It doesn’t do any good to know God sent a whole bunch of ways to prepare you for His wonderful gifts if you don’t grab them.  If you don’t read His Word, what good is it?  If you don’t communicate with Him in prayer, what good is it?  If you don’t fellowship with His Church, and if you don’t worship Him, what good is it all?

            You must get hold of all the ways He is preparing you for all of His wonderful things.  And, when you do, what will you get?

RESULTS—WE WILL HAVE ALL THAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE:

            I can’t even describe it!  It is far greater than words in my vocabulary.  But, I do know this: we will have all that God wants/intends for us to have when we grab hold of His Son.  And, it’s not just like, okay, I accept Christ and in 50 years I’ll die and spend eternity in Heaven.  Yeah, that will happen, but that’s not all of it.  There’s more, you say?  You bet!

            When you accept Christ, you get His kingdom now—you get a relationship with Him.  When you read/study His Word; when you come to Him in prayer; when you fellowship/worship in His Church—you get His kingdom now!

            You will have peace/joy in your heart.  You will have love in your heart.  You will be filled with His Holy Spirit who brings you power/wisdom.  And you will have hope.  But, you’ve got to grab hold.