After Disgrace: The Restoration Of John Mark - Sermon On Mark 1:1 Series

That’s not humility; it’s false doctrine. It’s an attitude that says, “I’ve messed up so royally that not even God can restore me.” Not only is that not humility; it’s arrogance, because it assumes that God is so helpless and needy that he can only use undamaged, highly qualified folks. That is a twisted conception of God. The reason God allows us to be involved is not because our great competence and qualification helps him out. The reason he involves us is to prove how much mercy and patience he has. And that even goes for someone like the Apostle Paul.

1 Timothy 1:15 …Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience

If you ever wonder why God chose you to be saved and not someone else, it may be the same reason he chose Paul – because he was look through humanity and thinking, “Which one of these people, if I saved them, would be the most extreme example my patience and mercy?” God saves us and uses us in ministry not because of our amazing qualifications and competence, but because of our amazing disqualification and incompetence, which puts his infinite mercy on display. So when people think that a big, public failure is unrecoverable – they just don’t understand even the beginnings of what God is like.

Now, is there such a thing as being unfit for ministry because of some failure? Of course. But is there such a thing as an unrecoverable unfitness? Maybe you’re thinking, “What I did was worse than what Mark did. Worse than what Moses did, worse than what Jeremiah did – even worse than Peter – worse than publicly denying Christ repeatedly, and worse than having such bad influence that you lead someone like Barnabas astray. What you did was worse than all that, and worse than David – worse than adultery and murder to cover up the adultery. Even if your failure is worse than all those things, doesn’t that make you an even better candidate for showing God’s infinite mercy? The worse your failure, the better candidate you are.

When you have a major failure, it’s not a humble response to just put yourself on the shelf and say, “Oh well, I guess I’m out of the game now because I’m unfit.” That’s not humility. Humility repents and then says, “I will use whatever resources and gifts God has given me to serve Christ and his people to the utmost of my ability until the day I die.”

Authoritative Slavery

I wanted to take a week just to show you the portrait Scripture gives us of Mark so you will be confident about the authenticity and value of this gospel, but also so we could learn from his example of what true humility looks like. Did his humility make him timid and sheepish and apologetic about his ministry? No – Mark wrote with amazing authority.

Beginning

I mentioned last time that he begins his book with the language of the Prophet Hosea.

The beginning of the word of the Lord through Hosea.

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ.