Sermon Tone Analysis

! Doing Ministry Like Jesus

Main responsibilities – help people identify ministry opportunities and equip them to do it.

Ephesians “to equip the people for the work of ministry”.

Mark’s gospel is often referred to as “The Servant’s Gospel”.

Chapter 1 moves us quickly to the beginning of Christ’s ministry (v.14-15), and the calling of the first disciples (v.16-20).

The next 4 stories highlight some of the distinctive qualities modelled by Christ in His ministry, which are applicable for us in our ministry to one another and the world.

*Distinctives:*

*A Servanthood Marked by Divine Authority (v.21-28)*

*/21/*/     //And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

/*/22/*/     //And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

/

*/23/*/     //And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.

And he cried out, /*/24/*/     //“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us?

I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” /*/25/*/     //But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” /*/26/*/     //And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

/*/27/*/     //And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this?

A new teaching with authority!

He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”//

/*/28/*/     //And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee./

ILLUS: Coaching – who do I listen to, parents, team-mates, coach.

Tagline: *We live in a world of conflicting and confusing authorities* and we are left alone to decide which of these authorities we will trust and seek to live by.

With so many differing ideas and options, which ones do we trust?

As we look at this passage of scripture, this is one of the first things that we notice, and it holds great significance in this story.

When Jesus taught at the synagogue in Capernaum, *the people were captivated by His teaching because they could sense the authority that undergirded His teaching*.

-          What was unique was the fact that Jesus neither quoted, nor leaned on any other rabbinic names as a precedent for his teaching.

No scribe ever gave a decision on his own.

He would always begin, “There is a teaching that…” and would then quote all his authorities.

The last thing they would do is make an independent judgement.

-          Jesus was different.

He made a quiet assumption of personal authority.

When He spoke, he spoke as if He needed no authority beyond Himself.

He spoke with utter independence.

He cited no authorities and quoted no experts.

He spoke with the finality of the voice of God.

And like a breeze of fresh air, Christ’s teaching captures the attention of His listeners.

-          In this story, we also see that his teaching was backed by authority in action in the casting out of a demon.

Notice the response of the crowds, “What is this?

A new teaching with authority!

He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”

First characteristic of doing ministry like Jesus:

*A Servanthood marked by Divine Authority*

 

*Relevance*: We want our ministries to reflect the right authority as well.

Our appeal is not to our own authority, but to biblical authority.

The people were captured by Christ’s teaching because it was authoritative and relevant.

It struck a chord with them, both because of the message, and because of the authority behind the message.

The Message delivered with Divine Authority will be both appealing (because it speaks relevantly and deeply to our souls) and scary (because it speaks relevantly and deeply to our souls).

We all long for that kind of teaching to guide our lives, but at the same time, we all wrestle with giving ourselves completely to it.

*Christ’s teaching of the Word of God is recognized as a legitimate authority, but it must also be responded to as a legitimate authority.*

Jesus was asked a question once by the religious leaders that is helpful for us to ponder as we consider God’s Words this morning.

They asked, “By what authority do you do these things?”

-          We know that they had already pondered the question and had come to a conclusion about the authority behind Christ’s words and action.

-          What conclusion do we come to as we consider this question?

The challenge that we must consider this morning is this: If Christ’s life and teaching is marked by Divine Authority, we must decide what our response to that Divine Authority will be.

Our responsibility as a church is to faithfully present the message and appeal to the biblical authority from which it comes.

Our responsibility as individuals is to recognize and respond to the message and its authority.

Will we recognize an authority that rings true, but do nothing with it?

Or will we recognized the Divine Authority in Christ’s life and teaching and respond to it appropriately, in faith and obedience?

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*A Servanthood Marked by Personal Attention (v.29-34)*

*/29/*/     //And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

/*/30/*/     //Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. /*/31/*/     //And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them./

*/32/*/     //That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.

/*/33/*/     //And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

/*/34/*/     //And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.

And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him./

The story characters – All of us, like the people in these stories, have human needs that affect us and our lives.

These needs are unique to us: unique hurts, unique pain, unique disease, unique loneliness, unique questions, unique obstacles and barriers that affect our lives.

Sometimes these needs are obvious, and other times, they are not so obvious.

-          I would guess that all of us are therefore on the lookout for those people who will take interest in us in such a way that they help bear the burden of our need.

-          Jesus does that, through our personal relationship with Him, and through relationships with His people.

Mark continues to lay the foundation for understanding the Servant King.

In the happenstance of life this day in Capernaum, Jesus shows Himself to be a servant to human need.

There appear to be no conditions for who could be healed and only one motivation – to show personal care and attention to the needs of those who came to Him.

The Second Distinctive characteristic of Christ’s ministry:

*A Servanthood marked by Personal Attention*.

This scripture shows the evidence of Christ becoming involved with people personally.

He gives Himself as a servant to those in need.

“They went to the home…” – while this scripture doesn’t explicitly say so, we can imply that *real relationship begins when we start inviting people into our lives*.

-          Jesus might well have claimed the right to rest after the exciting and exhausting experience of the synagogue service; but once again His power was appealed to and once again He spent Himself for others.

-          Note what this tells us about Jesus.

He did not require an audience in order to exert His power – it was true servanthood of people, not a show to amaze and appeal to people by His power.

He was never too tired to help; the need of others took precedence over His own desire for rest.

Jesus helped instinctively because He was supremely interested in all who needed His help.

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Jesus – Jesus teaches us by modeling the kind of servanthood that He wants to develop in our lives.

He placed Himself in the position that He is seeking to teach us.

He meets needs because He successfully shows interest in people – *placing them and their need within His sphere of attention*.

That alone is enough to capture their attention – perhaps not their hearts allegiance, but it does capture their attention.

*What’s the Problem?*                    Acknowledge and address possible objections the listener may have.

Here is the beginning of tragedy.

The crowds came, but they came because they wanted something out of Jesus.

They did not come because they loved Him; they did not come because they had caught a glimpse of the new vision Jesus brought to the world; they came because their need could be met by Him.

The one thing that is missing in Christ’s performing of these miracles is the quest for faith that usually accompanies His miracles.

Perhaps He was allowing them to bridge the gap by discovering faith as a result of witnessing the power of God on their behalf.

In fact, we see this recognized in Mk.2:5, “When Jesus saw their faith…”.

This is the first time recorded in Mk that faith accompanied a miracle – and Jesus was watching for it.

*“For one prayer that goes up to God in prosperity *

*ten thousand go up in time of adversity.”*

What this statement means for us is that people in need provide opportunity for ministry.

They are looking for help; often they are open to real ministry.

*What’s the Difference?*     Offer an alternate future that is based upon the transformed call of the gospel.

The Roman Readers – Christianity has long been known as a personal faith, and is unique because it is a personal relationship.

Most religion, whether true or false, misses the most important thing that is presented here – God Himself is personally interested in us and our need.