No Ordinary Man
The Story -24
April 3, 2011
Their entire world consisted of just one island and they measured wealth in sea shells. They had never struck a match, heard an engine roar, or been told about gravity. They believed the entire world was the what they saw. And that all of humanity lived on one island. And all people were just like themselves, but everything changed in the summer of 1930.
That’s when two men from Australia, searching for gold, explored their island. Michael Leahy and Michael Dwyer were searching the Pacific Islands for gold. They inadvertently introduced these natives to the world, and the world to them.
These New Guinea natives had never seen skin so white or bodies so clothed. They saw soap bubbles for the first time as the two men bathed in the river, the natives thought the bubbles were a skin disease. The natives thought the lanterns the men had were containers with pieces of the moon in them. When Michael Dwyer took out his dentures, the natives ran screaming into the jungle. They had never seen anything like this, it was beyond their small island.
Could we also be accused of a similar response? Do we also suffer from “tiny islanditis?” Where we think everything that exists is just what we can see. Our world, albeit huge, 4 billion residents, beautiful sunsets, and all, and yet we think this is all there is, nothing more. What would happen if someone from the outside came and walked on our island, and said, this is but a tiny dot in the Pacific of what is reality. That’s what Jesus did.
He came like an invader from the outside, an outsider, a foreigner, with peculiar behavior and unusual deeds. And He came speaking a language people never heard. Discussing principles people found difficult to embrace.
He talked about a commonwealth, a dominion, an existence, where one of His favorite words was — Kingdom. He began His ministry with these words, “the time has come, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news.” With these words Jesus not only began His ministry, but He began introducing us to His favorite topic.
60 times in the gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke; Jesus either talks about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. For Jesus, the kingdom occupies center stage. The same cannot be said about our teaching. We don’t talk kingdoms much, do we? We don’t like to think about an absolute rule, a monarchy, instead we’re all about democracy. We’re all about everyone having a vote, putting people into office, and taking people out of office.
And this idea of someone giving a life long assignment of absolute rule over every detail of our lives, we find this a bit unnerving. But we should find it biblical.
From beginning to end, the Bible speaks of a king who created the world. We found glimpses of God’s kingdom in the OT. Remember king Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king of Babylon. He encountered God and confessed, “Blessed is the Most High, praise and honor to Him who lives forever. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:34).
The OT prophets envisioned a time when God would establish a new rule on earth. God said, “38They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, What a great sentence. And He goes on . . . so that they will always honor me for their own good and the good of their children after them (Jeremiah 32:38-39).
And the prophets often spoke about the coming of a king, a Messiah, the Anointed One.
Zechariah said, “your king is coming to you, he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey.” And so the Jews set their hope on the coming of a king. And their hopes were realized in the coming of a Nazarene carpenter who entered the world and said, the time has come, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news.
So, what on earth is God up to? God us up to a kingdom, He’s creating a kingdom. That’s why chapter 24 in the Story is marked by the appearance of the word kingdom. Look at this passage with me, Mark 4:3-9 —
Jesus said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
The kingdom enters, not like an army with weapons, but it comes in the form of a farmer who has seed and the seed falls on the soil, and sometimes that soil is soft and the heart receives the kingdom’s teaching and their life begins to bear fruit. They bear fruit in happiness, and in joy, some 30, some 60, some 100 fold. Other people have hard hearts, and their soil is crusty and rocky. And they don’t like the idea of another king, they cannot envision there’s more to life than this island we see. Consequently, that seed does not take root. If the math of Jesus means anything in this parable, then 3 out 4 people ignore the idea of a kingdom. But 1 out of 4 says, ‘you know, I could use a king; and I think there’s more to life, than this life. I want to learn about this kingdom. And to those people whose hearts are willing, God begins to sow seeds of the kingdom and they begin to bear fruit.
Jesus said, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. The kingdom of God is not a kingdom which is on a mountain, or on an island, but the kingdom of God is all around us. The kingdom of God is within your reach. That is to say, every single person has access to the kingdom of God.
You’ve probably heard about the 8 year old and the 10 year old. Both boys, who were in trouble. And their mother took them to talk to the preacher, thinking he’ll change them, because everyone knows the preacher can fix anything. The preacher thought he would talk to them about the fact that God is everywhere, and they need to behave because they’re always in the presence of God. So, the 10 year old came in first, and he asked him, “do you know where God is?” The boy was silent, his eyes grew wider, but he said nothing. So the preacher asked him again, with a little more emotion to it. And the boy said nothing. Finally, on the 3rd time the preacher’s voice raised up and he asked him again, “Son, do you know where God is?” At this the boy went flying out of the office, grabbed his younger brother and said, “Boy are we in trouble, let’s get out of here! God’s missing and they think we did it!”
The great announcement of the kingdom is that God is not missing, God is here, and his kingdom is within your reach. And the greatest discovery of life is the discovery of the kingdom of God. Too many people pass through life unaware that there’s a king, and a kingdom, because they limit their eyes to this tiny little island, never understanding there’s an immense world.
Jesus said, ‘the kingdom of God is like finding a pearl of great price. The kingdom is like finding a jewel or a treasure that’s beyond measure. It’s the greatest discovery you can ever have. It’s like waking up from a world which is only black and white, and discovering color for the first time.
Look at Mark 4:26-29, Jesus gives us some of the principles of the kingdom.
26 Jesus said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.
What’s He saying here? He’s saying that when you’re in the kingdom, you’re not all by yourself and bearing fruit. You don’t even know how it works, but it happens. The farmer didn’t understand the chemistry of the soil, he didn’t go to a local college and get a degree in agriculture. He knew that if he takes good seed and puts it in good soil, and is patient enough, he’s going to have a good harvest.
This is a promise of the kingdom. And when you’re in the kingdom of God, you do good things, and you’re patient, and you trust, good things . . . eventually, maybe not initially, but eventually, good is going to happen — and you don’t always know how. And things turn out okay in the kingdom of God. Isn’t that great news! Jesus said, it’s like discovering a treasure, and it’s available to all people.
Jesus even said, in the kingdom of heaven you don’t even have to worry. That it’s possible to be anxiety free. Raise your hand if you’re already anxiety free. That’s what I thought, not too many hands are getting raised. If you’re anxiety free, then you can tune out for a moment, but for the rest of us, we need to tune in.
Jesus said, 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Jesus said in the kingdom of God you don’t have to worry. It’s this upside down thinking. Some of us have graduate degrees in worrying and anxiety. Some of us even worry about worrying. You worry that you’ve been worrying too much, and that makes you anxious, and that leads you to think that you’re a less than Christ follower, because after all, you shouldn’t be worrying. So, you worry about worrying too much and worry that your worrying is leading you away from the life you’re supposed to have in Christ. And in the end, you worry about worrying.
But Jesus said, you don’t have to do that anymore. This is what He said we need to do, 33 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Don’t you love it! Just relax! Yeah, right!! Relax, no way, you don’t know what problems I’ve got to deal with? You’re right, I don’t know what you have to deal with, but there’s someone who does. You see, the kingdom is a place where things work out okay. The kingdom is a place where you don’t have to be anxious. These are the kinds of promises Jesus offers, and they’re within the reach of every person.
But how do I know? We do it by trust, we look at this seemingly common man and we place our trust, our faith, our belief, our confidence and our hope in Him. We accept His love, and we offer Him our love, as broken as it may be. And that is why we can come to this table this morning
COMMUNION
This guy who’s a Nazarene carpenter shows up talking about a kingdom. Certainly someone had to ask that question, even back then. And to answer that question, Jesus behaved like a king. Let me give you an example in Mark 4 ~
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Who does things like that? Who goes around talking to storms? Commanding the waves, stilling the seas? You and I might talk to the wind, but does the wind listen and better yet, obey us? The disciples saw this and after the storm was over, they asked the question, who is this man? And the day was just beginning. And Christ was just getting warmed up.
Because He commanded them to take the boat across the Sea of Galilee to a region called the Gerasenes. And there He had an encounter with a man who was possessed by demons. If you thought the first story was mind boggling, read Mark 5:1 ~
1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. What do you do in a situation like this? Nobody can control him and it’s scary to witness, and when this man saw Jesus coming towards him,
6 he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”
Now, what does Jesus do? He gives one command . . .
8 “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
The devil doesn’t negotiate, he doesn’t resist, they simply ask for a reassignment and beg Jesus, 12 “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” And in a moments notice, the pigs are squealing and the man is smiling and we’re wondering, just like the disciples, who does this kind of thing?
Who is this man who walked on our earth with the ability to talk to evil spirits and command them like He was the general and they were privates. Who is this man who can talk to the wind, and the wind responds to His commands? Who is this man?
Through the miracles, Christ is displaying His royal authority. The miracles give us clear evidence that Jesus is something other than anyone we’ve ever seen. That He’s worthy of being called king. And to give us a sample of what life will be like when the king is on this earth and once and for all, all storms are silenced and all demons are banished . . . He proves His kingship, so that we, longing for a king, will turn to Him as ours.
Let me ask you a question? Do you have a king? Would you like one? Would you like to have a king, who allows you to call Him Father? You see, maybe the greatest of the kingdom teachings is not that there’s a kingdom and that kingdom has a king, but that the king is your Father.
Remember how Jesus taught us how to pray? He started, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come. Do you see that? In the same sentence, Father and kingdom? We could have prayed Our king in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come. Jesus taught us to pray — Abba, father, a word that literally means ‘papa’ or ‘daddy.’
Our daddy who is in heaven. . . you see if your king is your daddy, then everything changes, doesn’t it? It’s one thing and it’s wonderful to have a king who’s strong and mighty, but if you never get to meet the king, what good is that? But it’s very different when the king is your daddy.
A king who butters your toast in the morning, locks the doors and tucks you in bed at night. Let me tell you something, we need a king who is our Father. I don’t believe we were made to live without a king. And life becomes a lot harder when we try to do it on our own. Ultimately, we’ll try to crown someone or something as king, whether it be King Oprah or King Obama, or King Manning. We love heroes, and we’ll find one or make one up to take the place of God, our Father, our Daddy.
You wonder why people read all of those magazines out there? Who cares who’s dating who! Who cares what they’re wearing? Why do we pay so much attention to this? What’s the big deal? The big deal is . . . we want a king. There’s something within us that wants royalty. But the problem is that the kings we always anoint stumble and fall.
But the great news of the kingdom is that there was a man who came, who declared that He was God on earth, and He came from a world we’ve never seen. He lived on this earth, yet He never made a single mistake. And He spoke to the winds and waves; to demons and death. And He died on the cross taking upon Himself, every sin we’ve ever committed and ever will commit. Then He defeated death and then He stood and declared “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Kings say things like that.
And He invites anyone who wants to be part of His kingdom to come and be part of it. No restrictions, every gender, every age, every race, no matter where you are in life, no matter what your past looks like, it’s not too late to be part of God’s kingdom.
Now, I’ve got to tell you – the one thing that makes it difficult to be part of the kingdom of God is that the kingdom has room for how many kings? Just one, and guess what? The throne is already occupied.
The title your highness is already taken. There’s only one crown, and the only requirement in making Christ your king is you acknowledge you’re not a king or queen, and He’s your king, your Lord, your Savior.
So, we end up discovering we have a king who is our Father. It seems to me the whole thing can be summarized like this . . .
What on earth is God up to? He’s created and creating a kingdom; and those who say yes to Him as king, are brought into that kingdom; and as you go through life you will meet other kingdom people.
And here’s the big deal, someday Christ will come and establish a physical kingdom, right here on earth, and He will restore this earth; and it will be the Garden of Eden, minus the snake. And there will be no temptation, no death, no regrets, no pain and . . . no question as to who is king. No more competition, no more making a big deal out of people, because we’ll all be making a big deal out of God, because He is the only one worthy of being worshiped.
And we will be at home and it will make sense and we will be of one heart and one spirit. But until then we live in a kingdom tension. Many people in the world don’t want anything to do with Him and the kingdom. So, we’re in the minority here. And yet we’re not giving up because we know what life is like outside of the kingdom and we want to stay in the kingdom. It’s not easy, though, in John 6, Jesus said, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
In other words, being in the kingdom is not a part time thing. It’s a full time gig and Christ wants us to receive Him just like we receive our food — down deep within us. Where we get to the point where Jesus is our very nourishment. When Jesus said that, many of the disciples left because they didn’t want to do that. After they walked away, Jesus turned to the remaining disciples and said, “do you want to leave too?”
And listen to what Peter said, 68Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life 69and we have come to believe and know that you are the holy One of God.
Peter said, ‘you know, I’ve tried everything else, and at the end of the day, you’re the only one who makes sense. I don’t have it all figured out, but I believe you’re the holy One of God.’
Are you in the kingdom? If the answer is no, you can be. The kingdom is welcoming anyone. God has lowered the drawbridge and swung open the castle doors and Jesus is inviting anyone to step into the kingdom.
So, talk to your king, your daddy. Speak like you have a king, a king who can declare the storms to be quiet and the demons to disperse, because some of you are passing through tough times, but don’t give up. Because your king is your Father. And your king is coming to take us home.
