Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” John 1:47 NKJV
We don’t hear much about Nathanael before or after this story. Nathanael does not go on to be a world renowned preacher. If he wrote anything it was never published in the Cannon. There is no record of him parting the waters, or calling fire down from heaven. By all accounts he was just an ordinary guy, but wow, what an awesome affirmation he received from God. Before Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus already knew him by name and publicly recognized his integrity. I am more than happy to just remain a common ordinary guy, so long as I can hear Jesus one day say about me what He said about Nathanel. Such an affirmation coming from God means way more to me than all the worldly accomplishments and fame this world can give.
Nathanael is not the only “ordinary guy” that God knew by name and held in high esteem. In Exodus 31:1-6 God calls out Bezalel and Aholiab by name as the “construction workers” he wanted working on the temple. He even said they were filled with His Spirit, so God not only fills priests and pastors with His Spirit, He fills people in all walks of life. In Nehemiah 3:1-32 Nehemiah calls out several construction workers by name, who made repairs in rebuilding Jerusalem. A few weeks ago, Florida, where I live was hit by two hurricanes. Linemen came from all over the country, and even some from Canada to help restore electricity to our communities. All our churches were praying for these linemen. In Revelation 1:20 we see how Jesus holds His ministers in His hands, but I realized that God also knew these linemen by name and held them in His hands as well.
The world may have some kind of hierarchy, but we all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross and in the presence of God. God does not esteem us according to our fame or worldly status. We may be just ordinary folk to the world, but still be precious in the eyes and in the hands of God. I would gladly trade all the praise and esteem this world has to give just to hear Jesus say about me, “Behold, a man indeed, in whom is no deceit!” By God’s grace, no matter what our positions or worldly titles may be, no matter how common or ordinary we may appear, we may all hear Jesus tell us,
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:21 NKJV
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Last week we were looking at how Jesus not only made and taught disciples, He was a disciple of the Father. Jesus gave us the perfect model for being a disciple. Last week we saw Jesus modeled being a disciple by reflecting the image of God, which we saw can only be done by community as God is community.
No wonder why Satan wants to divide and isolate us! Satan knows love is community and the image of God is reflected only through community. It is also by community that we grow into the image of God. In isolation we grow selfish and self-focused. In community we get on each other’s nerves and drive each other crazy sometimes as part of the growth process. During this process it is tempting to want to run away sometimes and be alone, and that may actually be a momentary solution, but not for the long haul. It may be the brother or sister who is rubbing you the wrong way who is actually polishingyour character for heaven.
Sometimes it is tempting to pray that the person annoying us would just go away, but consider this: Saul was a humble man when he became king, but later ego got in the way and destroyed him. When Saul became king no one gave him any trouble. Is that why he became proud and finally let his ego destroy him? I ask this, because when David is anointed king he has opposition from Saul, which kept David humble and may have ended up saving his soul. The person we think Satan sent as a curse may be the person God sent to keep us humble in order to save our soul for eternity.
When tempted to pray that those bothering us would just go away let’s keep in mind,
Joseph did not try to get rid of his brothers. His brothers tried to get rid of Joseph.
David did not try to get rid of Saul. Saul tried to get rid of David.
Mordecai did not try to get rid of Haman. Haman tried to get rid of Mordecai.
Jesus did not try to get rid of the pharisees. The Pharisees tried to get rid of Jesus.
In each case it is the unconverted person who is trying to get rid of the converted person, so keep that in mind whenever you are tempted to pray that God would get rid of someone. Discipleship is all about reflecting the character of God, and God is love and love is community. Love is also seeking to save the lost.
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 NKJV
Jesus did not spend all his time with church people. He spend His time with some pretty rough sinners. He mentored them, ate with them and taught them to follow Him. I imagine if Jesus were here on earth today His cell phone contact list would be filled with names and numbers of unchurched people. Look at your cell phone contact list. How many unchurched people are on your list? This may give you an idea as to how well you are following the Model Disciple. How many unchurched people do you invite to your home? What is your attitude towards sinners in your church?
A while back I was teaching a new believers Sabbath School class, and a young man showed up who was obviously unchurched. In sharing with us his struggles he used a four letter word. Most all of my class were so tuned in to his feelings that they did not take special note of the four-letter word. One member later talked to me and encouraged me to let him know we don’t use that word here. Which do you find more concerning? A Sabbath school class with an unchurched man who accidentally lets one bad word slip, or a Sabbath school class where you never have to worry about hearing a foul word because that class would never dare allow an unchurched person to attend?
My point is that discipling the way Jesus discipled may not always be pretty. Being pretty is not the goal. Seeking and saving the lost is the goal. There are a lot of difficult unchurched people who are seeking for Jesus.
Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing to Himself.-Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 72
There may be some apparently hopeless subjects in your community that the other churches in your area have spurned and turned away. Is your church ready to pray, “Jesus please send us all the hopeless outcasts the other churches in our community don’t want to deal with. Please send them to us Jesus and let our church love the people the other churches in our community refuse to love.”
Jesus told His disciples,
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV
This means way more than reaching out to our Catholic and Protestant brothers and sisters with the truth about the Sabbath. It means reaching out to a secular society cutting and drugging themselves. It means reaching out to them with the good news about the Savior. To follow our Model Disciple we must reach out to and disciple apparently hopeless people just like our Model Disciple, Jesus did.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School Lesson here.
As we near the end of studying the life of Christ in the book of Mark, we see how Jesus taught His disciples and told them to make disciples, but did it ever occur to us that Jesus was a disciple? Jesus was a disciple of His Father, and in Jesus’ public life and private life He modeled being a disciple. Peter and James and John were discipled by Jesus while He was here on earth. That is great, but since Jesus is not here on earth anymore, I learn more by how Jesus was a disciple of His Father, while He was here on earth, but His Father was up in heaven. After all, Jesus is up in heaven. So, I can’t follow the exact model of Peter, James and John, who were being discipled while Jesus was here on earth, but I can follow the model of Jesus as He was a disciple while His Father was in heaven. So let’s look at how Jesus modeled being a disciple.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9 NKJV
As a Disciple of the Father, Jesus showed us the image of His Father. There is a reason the second commandment tells us not to make graven images. God does not want His character reflected through things. He created us in His image so that we can reflect His character. The whole purpose of God’s last day Seventh-day Adventist Church is to do way more than just be a remnant of the New Testament church. The plan of Salvation and the great controversy go back even further. It;s God’s plan that the Seventh-day Adventist Church will hep restore the image of God in mankind, from every tribe, nation, tongue and people to how it was before the fall. Just as Jesus showed us the Father, we are to show Jesus to the world.
The story goes of a group of pastors in a Romanian prison years before it opened up to the Gospel. Of course they were talking about Jesus, and the guards got tire of it. Finally one guard said, “I will let you say one more sentence about your God, and then you not be allowed to speak of Him again.” One prisoner, knowing the guards would be watching him, came up with the best sentence he could. He told the guards, “Jesus is like me.” When I read this I could not believe a human would say such a thing. But the more I thought about it, I thought this is exactly what Christianity should be. We should not be calling ourselves Christians in vain. This is what the third commandment is all about. Disciples of Christ are to do more than believe in Christ. Notice Jesus never told His disciples to accept Him. He told them to pick up their cross and follow Him to death. As Jesus reflected the image of His Father, He modeled for us what we should be as disciples. We are to reflect the image of Jesus to the world.
All of the Gospels are excellent study material on how to be a disciple of Jesus, but Jesus gave some extra special instruction in the sermon on the mount on what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. In that sermon Jesus said,
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NKJV
Notice Jesus did not tell His disciples to merely make sure the world sees what they believe. Rather He told them to make sure the world sees their good works so their Father in heaven would be glorified. Romans 2:4 tells us it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. A church with a last day message to the world needs to make sure the world sees the goodness of God that will lead them to repentance and salvation.
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4 NKJV
When tempted Jesus used no special powers. He modeled for us how a disciple of God handles temptation. Every time Jesus was tempted or tried He referred to the Scriptures. The same Scriptures that Jesus used are available to us. Jesus showed us how to be a disciple just like He was a disciple of the Father.
And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. Matthew 14:23 NKJV
Before we can live like Jesus we need to pray like Jesus. Jesus modeled for us the balance we need between “the mountain and the multitude.” Jesus was the Model Disciple of the Father. Later in Matthew 14 Jesus walks on water, but so does Peter, until he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the waves. I wonder if Peter had continued praying like Jesus, if he would have been able to continue standing on the water like Jesus?
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” Matthew 26:37-38 NKJV
Jesus asks His three closest friends to disciple with Him. He had to disciple in community. He could not disciple in isolation. Why? Remember, as disciples we are to reflect the image of God. In Genesis 1:26-27 God said, “Let us make man in our image.” And He made us male and female. What relevance does this have to us? First, God is speaking not as an isolated Being but as a community consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is not an isolated Creature. He is community. When God created us to be in His image, He created us to be community. God is community so it is impossible for us to reflect His character of Community while in isolation. Jesus needed His three closest friends because He could not be the Model Disciple by Himself. The importance of this truth is seen by the fact that when His three closes friends fell asleep on Him, and angel had to come down from heaven to disciple with Him. See Luke 22:43. It was simply impossible for Jesus to disciple in isolation, and it is impossible for you to disciple in isolation as well. As isolated individuals we cannot reflect the character of a communal God. We also cannot reflect the character of God with just one gender. God created males and females to be in His image, One gender alone cannot reflect the image of God.
This reminds of a popular passage in the Adventist world,
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.-Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 69,
Christ is not merely wanting His character reproduced in His church so that they can earn heaven by perfection. There is a great controversy going on regarding the character of God. Satan hs misrepresented God’s character and so many people are rejecting Him. Christ wants to perfectly reproduce His character or image in the church so the church can give God proper representation in the great controversy. Jesus wants the church to reflect the image and goodness of God so the world will know God is love. One isolated person cannot reflect the character of God. God is love. Love is community, together as a community of believers we show God’s love and mercy by being patient and understanding of each other’s faults and weaknesses. We strengthen one another where the other one is weak. As a church community we reflect the image of God. This is why Jesus had to model discipleship within a community of other disciples.
Next week we will see How Jesus modeled being a disciple, by mentoring the unchurched.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
After more than 175 years of preaching the Second Coming, one important question comes to mind for Seventh-day Adventists. Is Jesus still going to come again? Are we still planning on it? Is it still a part of who we are?
Growing up as a Seventh-day Adventist I heard people talk about how Jesus was surely coming in the next five years. We thought for sure that the oil crisis in the 70’s was the beginning of the end of the world. I remember looking at the form the Tulsa Roughnecks Soccer team sent me when I was a teen, asking me to renew my season tickets for the 1980 season. You may laugh at me, but I stared at that form in disbelief that I actually saw the year 1980 in print. There is no way the world will last that long I thought. Well that was over 40 years ago and we are in a new century. So what happened to the Second Coming? Is it still on?
In the mid ‘80s I joined a new Adventist church in the suburbs. I had just started dating a girl who went to that church; so I switched from the larger Adventist church where I was a member to her church. We had just started dating when she dumped me. I still stayed at this new church because I did not want people to think I changed churches just for her. Besides, this church seemed to be really on fire. The weekly prayer meetings were very spiritual, and everyone was praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to prepare them for the Second Coming. We had about as many people attending prayer meeting as attended our Sabbath worship services. We were sure Jesus was coming soon, and we were getting ready.
Then something sad happened. People stopped coming to prayer meeting. Some decided “Growing Pains” was just too funny of a show to miss for prayer meeting. People stopped coming to church altogether. This was not supposed to happen! Discouraged, I asked God why He did not come back when our church was at its spiritual peak, when we had it all together. He waited too long, and now look what happened!
I believe the Holy Spirit revealed to me why Jesus did not return when the church was on top of its game. Our church was on a spiritual roller coaster. Jesus is not coming back for a church on a spiritual roller coaster. He is not coming back for a people who walk with him off and on. A groom does not want to marry a bride whose love and devotion goes in cycles. Neither does Jesus.
Enoch walked with God many years before being translated. God will come back for a church who will consistently walk with Him year after year after year, and not on some roller coaster. The church is like a woman. For centuries God’s church has loved to flirt with Him, but it also loves to flirt with the world. God’s church likes to date Jesus, but it also likes to date other things too. Jesus is not returning for a date; He is returning for a wedding. When God’s church decides to stop dating and flirting with Jesus and decides to get married, He will return.
During this same time period our suburban church was also asking the Holy Spirit to get sin out of our lives so we could be ready for Jesus to come. We did not – or at least I did not – realize how legalistic that was. Jesus is not coming back for a legalistic group who get their act together so they can have some great reward like heaven. Jesus is coming back for a people who love Him because He first loved them. Today I ask the Holy Spirit to remove sin from my life, not because Jesus is coming back, but because my sin breaks God’s heart. I do not want to break His heart any more, regardless if He is coming back tomorrow or a hundred years from now.
Now that I am older I don’t hear people talking about Jesus coming back in the next five years. So is the whole thing off?
One of Satan’s best weapons are over-zealous religious fanatics. They tell people Jesus is coming back during a certain time table, and then when their “prophecy” fails, people doubt that Jesus is coming back at all. However this is all Satan’s plan. To get us to give up right before it happens. Concentration camp survivors say they survived because they never set a date for their rescue. Some wanted to be rescued by Christmas, and then when that came and went, they wanted to be rescued by Easter, and then when Easter came and went, they gave up hope. Others just knew that they would be rescued some day, and they survived.
As Seventh-day Adventists we must believe Jesus is returning, without setting dates. Some have gone to the other extreme now and don’t even preach the Second Coming at all. They preach social sermons which they find more practical in everyday living. While we must be practical, we must also realize that God formed our church over 150 years ago for a specific reason.
Are we embarrassed by our message? I am sure the disciples were embarrassed when Jesus was crucified, but there was no reason for them to be. Are we afraid people will not believe our message, so we just preach things we know the world will accept? If so, shame on us! We are doing our Savior and neighbor no justice by hiding our special message.
The Seventh-day Adventist church has a message that will do more than prepare people to live nice little lives in this world. We have a gospel that will prepare people for the world to come! We must let everyone know the Second Coming is still on!
There are twice as many prophecies about the Second Coming than there were about Jesus’ first advent. He came the first time, so we know beyond a shadow of a doubt He is coming the second time. Jesus warns against setting times for His return when He tells us, “ in the hour you think not, the Son of man cometh.” Satan has been using religious fanatics for years to get us all excited and then disappointed that He has not returned. Satan wants us to give up and think Jesus is not returning at all. There is great danger in what I was always hearing growing up – about Jesus coming in the next five years – because it does two things: It makes us give up hope when He does not return in those five years, and it also makes us think we have five years to prepare. One day we won’t have five years to prepare. We won’t have one year to prepare. In the hour we think not, He will come!
Don’t get ready, be ready! Be ready, not because He is coming back but because we love Him because He first loved us! The Adventist church – the church that believes the Bible prophecies about the Second Coming – has a reason to exist! If we just preach social day-by-day sermons that you can hear anywhere else, then we are not fulfilling our purpose for coming into existence over 150 years ago. A true Adventist more than believes Jesus is coming. We love His appearing! We have a message to give to world and the people of the world are hungry for our message. We need to tell them that Jesus is coming back. Jesus loves them and wants to be with them forever!
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) Mark 7:19 NLT
First let me say that I am explaining this with the NLT instead of the KJV, because most of our friends will be asking about this passage after reading it from the NLT and we can properly explain it using the NLT, so let’s do so.
In Mark 7 the religious leaders are asking Jesus why He does not have His disciples follow the man -made tradition of washing of hands before eating. Jesus replies by defending the Old Testament Scriptures over man-made traditions.
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ Mark 7:6-7 NLT
Jesus is using the Old Testament as the standard against man made traditions. So it is very clear that Jesus is not doing away with any Old Testament teachings about eating pork or not. He would not defend the Old Testament and condemn man made traditions and then turn around and do away with the commands in Leviticus 11 all the same breath. That would not make sense. The context in both Jesus and the Pharisees’ minds is ceremonial washing and not pork. Jesus explains that it is not what goes in and out of our bodies that makes us clean or not but what comes out of the heart. Jesus finishes by saying,
Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) Mark 7:19 NLT
Now in the KJV Mark 7:9 ends with “purging all meats” While the NLT says “every kind of food.” The NLT is actually more accurate here. The word that the KJV used for meat is the Greek word, “bromata.” Bromata simply means food. It does not necessarily mean flesh. So the NLT is right, Jesus said the food that comes out of your body is clean regardless if you did the traditional washing of hands or not. Again clean or unclean flesh is clearly not the issue here. Again Jesus would not exalt the Old Testament over the traditions of man and then turn around and do away with what the Old Testament taught. He is doing away with the traditions of man. Again, “bromata” simply means food not flesh of any kind though it could include flesh I suppose. So Jesus is declared all foods clean regardless of the traditional washing. When the NLT says every food is acceptable in God’s eyes it is absolutely accurate. Pork was never considered food in this context either by Jesus or the pharisees. We have to keep things in context. When you tell your kids there is no school today so you can do whatever you want, it goes without saying that they still can’t rob a bank. When you said “anything” the context was automatically understood. Likewise when it says “thus purging all meats” in the KJV or “declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes,” the context is automatically understood that the food is clean regardless if one did the ceremonial washing or not. The Ceremonial washing does not make the food clean or unclean. The context in this story has absolutely nothing to do with pork or other unclean flesh being made clean. Matthew makes the context even more abundantly clear.
For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” Matthew 15:20 NLT
Matthew 15:19-20 makes the context in Mark 7:19 abundantly clear that Jesus is talking about washing with unclean hands and not about pork. Again pork was not the issue to any of the parties participating in the discussion taking place in Mark 7 and Matthew 15.
If Jesus had declared pork clean in Mark 7 then I would really be confused why later, in Acts 10 Peter was still following the regulations in Leviticus 11. And even then Peter makes the context of the vision of Acts 10 abundantly clear in Acts 10:28 NLT “But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.” Peter tells us the context of the vision was clearly about Jews and gentiles and not clean and unclean flesh foods. While stressing the importance of context, I should also point out that in 1 Corinthians 8 when Paul is saying you can eat whatever you want, 1 Corinthians 8:1 makes food sacrificed to idols as the abundantly clear context. Again eating pork never crossed Paul’s mind while he was speaking or writing.
Regardless if we are Jew or gentile, before the cross or after the cross we all have the same stomachs, and we don’t need just the Bible to tell us how unhealthy pork is. Just ask your doctor. My doctor, who is not even an Adventist had a video playing in the waiting room, telling us that pork triples your chances of heart disease. Let’s close by looking at this the same way we should look at every Bible teaching, in the light of the cross. In Romans 12:1-2 we are told to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Just as Jesus gave His body for us on the cross, we give our bodies to Christ as a living sacrifice. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we eat or drink we should do for the glory of God. That includes way more than just eating pork or not. This is a challenge for all of us, including myself especially. Let’s live and eat and drink in the light of the cross, and eat and drink to have healthy bodies to help us spread the Gospel of Jesus.
You may sutdy this week’s Sabbath School Lesson here.
You may study more about healthy living in light of the cross here.
Something always bothered me about the story about Jesus calming the storm, and why Jesus asked His disciples where their faith was? I thought they were showing faith when they asked Him to calm the storm. Then one day it finally dawned on me. Let’s look.
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So, they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:35-40 NLT
First it is important to notice that it was Jesus’ idea to cross the lake. Many times, we are following Jesus’ leading, but when things start to go wrong and we run into problems we start doubting our calling. I remember when I was living in Texas and got the call to be a Bible Worker in Florida. Everything seemed to be working out perfectly so I felt it was God’s will to go. While I was in the middle of what I considered to be a smooth transition, my aunt said something that surprised me. She said, “You are going to run into problems in Florida. But God will still be with you.” Her words proved true. Without going into detail not everything went as smooth at first as I thought it would. But God was with me and got me through those storms, until finally I was sailing on peaceful seas. When Jesus calls us, He is aware of the storms ahead. Sometimes He calls us into the storm. The question we need to ask ourselves, is not “Will everything work out smoothly?” The only question we need to ask ourselves is, “Did Jesus call me?”
This leads me to why Jesus asked the disciples about their faith after He calmed the storm. I always thought He was questioning if He could calm the storm but that clearly was not the case. They knew He could calm the storm. That is why they were calling on Him. I believe what Jesus was really asking was, “Don’t you have any faith? Why did you need me to calm this storm? Why couldn’t you just ride this storm out with me?”
If Joseph had never been sold and betrayed by his family, his dream of being a ruler never would have come true. If Naomi’s husband and sons had never died, she never would have gone back to her homeland with Ruth, where Ruth became an important role in the lineage of the Savior. If the early church had never been persecuted it never would have had to flee to spread the Gospel in foreign lands. It is often the storms of life that get us to where we need to be. Sailboats move by the wind, and if there is no wind there is no progress. Instead of asking Jesus to calm every storm our way, we need to have the faith to ride out the storm with Jesus and have enough faith to let Jesus take us wherever the storm needs to take us.
A while back a friend shared with me an experience where his family abandoned him as a very small child by the side of the road. It was heartbreaking. As an adult my friend asked Jesus where He was when his family abandoned him at such an early age. He told me God opened his eyes, and immediately he relived the scene where He was abandoned, except this time He saw Jesus walking beside him on the side of the road, smiling at him with love. Not too long after that I went through a stressful situation, nothing like being abandoned by family or friends, but to me a storm, nonetheless. As I prayed about my “storm” one morning, I remembered my friend’s testimony. This may sound silly, but I just spent a few moments imagining myself in the boat with Jesus in the middle of the storm. I imagined Jesus and me just sitting together in the bottom of the boat smiling at each other, while the boat was tossed about on the waves and the disciples were all freaking out. I imagined Jesus smiling and winking at me assuring me everything was going to be okay, and there was no reason to freak out with the disciples. This gave me peace in the middle of the storm and of course everything worked out fine in the end.
Recently I was on an airplane that hit some turbulence. I and many of the other passengers have experienced turbulence on a plane before so it did not alarm any of us. We just kept listening to our music and reading our books. I reminded myself I should stay just as calm when life hits turbulence. I should remain calm, and just ride out the storm with Jesus. Having enough faith to believe Jesus can calm the storm is one thing. Having enough faith to not ask Jesus to calm the storm, and just ride it out with Him is even greater.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor. 1 Peter 5:2-4 NLT
A Google search will confirm for you that in the United States respect for pastors is at an all time low. Part of this is because respect for the Bible itself is at an all time low. However, we have all at one time or another had a pastor who abused his position and influence and abused the flock he was entrusted to care for. This is very unfortunate for the entire Christian community. Speaking as someone who has spent plenty of time in the church as a lay member, and plenty of time as a full time Bible worker and now pastor, I have seen the damage this does to both sides. Lay members have been betrayed at the hands of their “protector.” That is damaging enough, but the damage continues when a young new pastor comes in and is disrespected with abusive behavior by those who were abused by a previous pastor now taking it out on the new pastor, who only came to love and to serve.
Again, having spent plenty of time on both sides, I know lay members who have been mistreated and outright abused by a pastor. This breaks my heart as a sacred trust has been betrayed. I also meet with and pray with younger pastors who are coming into the ranks and are being treated disrespectfully and yes, even abused by their lay members, because of what a pastor in their recent or distant past did to them. This breaks my heart also, as new pastors are being shunned and disrespected while only wanting to love and serve their church family. And something very Biblical and important for us to remember is, just as an abusive father does not diminish the respect that belongs to a loving father, just as an abusive teacher does not diminish the respect that belongs to a loving teacher, so an abusive pastor does not diminish the respect that is due to a loving pastor. Don’t throw away the eleven disciples just because there was a Judas.
Moses was the meekest of men, but He still was called by God to lead. And God dealt with those who disrespected His servant/leader. I rub shoulders with many new young pastors who want to serve God and lead their flock humbly as Moses did, but before they can even begin an older lay member, who had a bitter experience with another pastor in the distant past never gives the new pastor a chance. The lay member tells the new pastor “This is my turf.” Now the lay member who was mistreated by a previous pastor’s abuse is now carrying the same abuse and mistreatment on to the new pastor. Now the abused lay member is now abusing the new pastor. Fact is that the church is God’s turf. And God has led both the lay member and pastor to serve together on God’s turf.
So how do we bring this cycle of mistreatment and disrespect to an end? How do we restore the respect that is due to both the pastor and the lay member? First, I believe we all need to,
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 NLT
Even when being mistreated we sometimes need to relax. Sometimes we accuse a pastor or even lay member of abusing their position or stepping outside their bounds when in reality they were only trying to go the extra mile to help. Keep in mind also we have not all had the best role models when it comes to those in “authority.” A while back, I was sharing with a couple of teachers something one of my teachers did in a classroom way back in the day, that would be considered outright abuse today, but back in my school days it was never even questioned. While leaders should be able to follow the example of their leaders, the fact is it may not always be best. Sometimes we follow the example of others, thinking it’s best when it is not. The fact that we have not always been given the best examples, and the fact that we all make well meaning mistakes should encourage us all to follow the counsel in Colossians 3:13.
Another way to make sure we all serve and lead well together is to have open and frank conversations. I have discovered it is very important to have expectation meetings and follow up on those meetings to see if expectations are being met. A new pastor needs to sit down with the board members and department leaders and discuss openly and candidly what each one expects from the other. Also discuss how each one sees his or her own role. In some churches the pastor picks the hymns, in other churches the organist does. The pastor and organist need to sit down and discuss who picks the hymns in this church. And if the organist picks the hymns she should not get bent out of shape if the pastor decides to change the hymn at the last second, though it would be wise for him to know first if she even knows how to play it. And if the pastor chooses the hymns, he should not get all bent out of shape if the organist says she had to change it because she can’t play it or maybe she already knows the congregation can’t sing it.
That’s just one example but you get the picture. We need to have open and frank conversations about our roles and expectations. At the same time, we must be flexible and forgiving. But being flexible and forgiving does not mean avoiding conversations that need to take place. The pastor and congregation can have great respect for one another when Phillipians 2:3 is carried out by all involved.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Phillipians 2:3 NLT
In a perfect church the pastor respects the congregation, and the congregation respects the pastor. If either one stops respecting the other the church will become very unbalanced and unhealthy. By being humble and forgiving, by having candid and open conversations about expectations, and not avoiding conversations that need to take place, we can restore the respect and cooperation that is needed between pastors and their flock.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
I must admit, while I hated Covid and everything about it, there were some things I rather enjoyed about the temporary shutdown.
I enjoyed giving Bible studies at home on the phone in my pajamas. I enjoyed Sabbath mornings, relaxing with my Bible and having a nice big breakfast before meeting everyone on Zoom for church. I enjoyed the fact that while we did church on Zoom, old friends from around the world could join us. I even got to speak at my old church in Texas on Zoom, and a retired pastor in Texas who used to be at one of my current churches in Florida, got to be our guest speaker on Zoom.
I even learned I knew how to cook. However, when the restaurants opened back up, I seemed to have forgotten I knew how to cook. I enjoyed all the miles I saved on my car, working from home. Being an introvert, (My friends find this hard to believe but yes, I am an introvert.) I enjoyed having more time to read and write and just think and ponder life. I actually would not mind another shutdown every now and then, just without the Covid!
But as introverted as I may be, I missed people! A single friend who lives alone like I do, mentioned to me on the phone how long it had been since she had been hugged. She said at least people stuck at home with their families can touch and hug each other. For her, though, there was no human touch. For me neither. Human touch is important. As a matter of fact, I believe that is why Satan has so masterfully made inappropriate touching such a problem today. Now people are scared to touch someone even appropriately, and by this Satan has a double win. Bad people are touching others inappropriately and good people aren’t even touching others appropriately, for fear their motives will be misconstrued. But appropriate touch is still so vitally important. Take the story of Jesus healing the leper for example.
Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. Mark 1:40-42 NKJV
We all know in the Bible leprosy can be symbolic of sin. I love the fact that while some of our prayers may seem to have a delay in being answered not so the prayer to be made clean. As soon as the request was made for being cleansed, the leper was immediately cleansed. This tells me that when I ask for forgiveness and the moral cleansing referred to in 1 John 1:9 that there is no delay. I am immediately forgiven and cleansed.
But back to my point about how important appropriate touch is. Mark tells us Jesus touched the leper. Why? After all, He healed him with the words, “be cleansed,” so why did Jesus have to touch him? Because, while Jesus cleansed the leprosy with His words, He healed the loneliness with His hand. This man had been an outcast from society and even his own home. He needed more than just physical healing. He needed emotional healing. He needed to be healed from loneliness. Words can heal leprosy, but human touch cures loneliness.
When it comes to sharing the Gospel, many people want to drop a piece of literature on someone’s doorstep and run away before the person opens the door, so they don’t have to talk to them. But the Gospel heals us completely. The Gospel not only gives us amazing facts, but it also gives us amazing relationships. The Gospel takes away our sins, but it also takes away our loneliness. This means mingling with people instead of just throwing Bible facts at them and running away. And get this, while some people complain some Bible study groups and even Sabbath school classes have too much food and refreshments instead of just studying the Bible, the complete Gospel provides both spiritual food and physical food. The complete Gospel fills the mind, the heart and the stomach! The complete Gospel makes us complete spiritually, physically and emotionally. This is why many Bible study growth groups have refreshments after the deep Bible study. This gives the teacher the opportunity to teach and fellowship with the group so he/she can get to bond with everyone.
A while back a friend from Florida moved to another state for a couple of years and then moved back to Florida. When she came back, I asked how she liked where she just moved from. She said, “Everyone was friendly, but nobody wanted to be your friend.” I thought wow, that could describe some of our churches. Everyone smiles at you but as soon as church is over, they all want to run home to be alone. I have often said, you can’t tell how friendly a church is on Sabbath. You can tell how friendly a church is during the week. Smiles and greetings on Sabbath mean absolutely nothing if we ignore each other during the week. That is why its only during the week that you can tell how friendly a church or Sabbath school class is. Our Sabbath Schools classes and Bible study groups are designed to do way more than present a Gospel that just saves you from sin. If that were the case we could all just study our Bible alone and have church by ourselves at home. Our Sabbath School classes and Bible study groups are to present a Gospel that saves the sinner from sin and loneliness.
In the story of Jesus healing the leper, we see that the Gospel cleanses us and makes us whole, spiritually, physically and emotionally.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Main Theme: The first step this week will be to learn about Mark as reported in Scripture, to see his early failure and eventual recovery. Then the study will turn to the opening section of Mark with a look forward to where the story is headed and a look backward at why a failed and then restored missionary would write such a text.
Read in Class:Acts 13:1-5, 13. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How did John Mark get attached to Saul and Barnabas, and what was the outcome?
Apply: Recall a time when you backed off from something—or even flat out failed at it—in your Christian walk. What did you learn from the experience?
Share: Your friend is the Pathfinder leader in your local church. She is getting discouraged, because a few of her assistant leaders keep quitting whenever there are challenges. Now she feels like quitting. What do you tell your friend?
Study: Why did Paul reject John Mark, and why did Barnabas give him a second chance? What details about Mark’s recovery do these verses suggest?
Apply: Consider a time when you or a friend failed and were given a second chance. How did that experience change you and those who helped you? How did it modify your ministry to others?
Share: Your friend, who is the pathfinder leader. is telling you about a Pathfinder girl and boy who were caught in the woods alone acting inappropriately with each other. The kids are being disciplined, but she is wondering if they should both be kicked out of the club? She asks you where you draw the line between a second chance and getting kicked out? What do you tell your Pathfinder leader friend?
Read in Class:Mark 1:9-13. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: Who is present at the baptism of Jesus, and what happens?
Apply: What does it tell you about the amazing love of God that, though Jesus was God, He would take upon Himself our humanity in order to save us?
Share: Yiour friend asks you why the Sprit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted? What do you tell your friend? See also Matthew 4:1-11.
Read in Class: Mark 1:14-15. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What are the three parts of the gospel message that Jesus proclaimed?
Mark summarizes here the simple and direct message of Jesus. Its three parts are illustrated in the following table:
Category
Content
Time Prophecy
The time is fulfilled.
Covenant Promise
The kingdom of God is near.
Call to Discipleship
Repent and believe the gospel.
Apply: Read Daniel 9:24-27 and Acts 10:38. When was the last time you studied the 70-week prophecy? How can knowing this prophecy help increase your faith not only in Jesus but in the trustworthiness of the prophetic Word?
Share: If someone asked you, “How do you know Jesus was actually the Messiah?” What Scriptures from the Old and New Testament could you share with them to show Jesus was the Messiah? See The Messiah in Scripture.
In Light of The Cross 