OPEN:
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high.
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit --
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
as every one of us sometimes learns
And many a failure turns about
when he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow
you may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
it seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up
when he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down
how close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out
the silver tints of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
(poem by Edgar A. Guest)
Don’t quit.
Don’t give up.
Don’t presume that you are a loser…
Especially when you’re a Christian.
Now, to prove my point I want to introduce you this morning to a man who failed… not once… but at least twice.
We first read about him – here, in this text. In Mark 14, we’re told that
“… everyone deserted (Jesus) and fled. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.” Mark 14:50-52
Now – what do we know about this young man?
First he’s wealthy. He was wearing linen garments, and linen garments didn’t come cheap back then.
Second, he’s probably not one of the 12 disciples. He’s introduced simply as a young man.
Third, this is the only time in any of the Gospels that we read about this incident.
But God saw fit to put this little story at the end of the book of Mark.
The question is: why?
Well, the general consensus among scholars is that this young man… is Mark.
In other words, he’s the Mark that wrote this book.
And more than likely he used what he wrote as a sermon (most folks believe that each of the Gospels was a sermon that put down in written form). Therefore, if he’d written this book, he’d have known this part of the story… because he lived it. It was part of WHO he was and WHAT he experienced in following Christ.
So what is Mark telling us here?
He’s telling us he ran away.
Just like all the disciples ran away.
He’s not bragging here he’s telling you HIS story as well as Christ’s story.
This kind of thing (an author putting himself anonymously into the story) was not uncommon. John (for example) did the same thing. In the Gospel of John, John always speaks of himself as “the man who loved Jesus”. He NEVER uses his own name. It’s part of his story and John is telling you WHO he was without trying to draw attention to himself too much.
And here in the gospel of Mark, Mark is telling us who he was too.
He was the young man who ran away.
Now Mark doesn’t get a lot of attention from scholars because he seems like a minor player. In fact, the next time we read about him he ran away… again.
In the book of Acts we’re told about a mission trip where Paul and Barnabas went out and planted several churches in Asia. And we’re told in Acts 12:25 “Barnabas and Saul returned … from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called MARK.”
Now just so you don’t get confused… Mark had 2 names.
Mark was his Greek name and John was his Jewish name.
Some folks even refer to him as John Mark.
Mark went with Paul and Barnabas on that first mission trip, but for some reason he deserted them and went back home. Essentially… he “ran away” again.
Why did he run away?
Nobody knows (Scripture doesn’t say) but it must not have been for a very good reason because it really ticked Paul off. The next time he went on a mission trip Paul refused to let Mark tag along
Acts 15 tells us “… Paul did not think it wise to take (Mark), because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.” Acts 15:38-40
So let’s sum up what we know about Mark at this point:
He was a spoiled rich kid who couldn’t be counted on.
When the going got tough… Mark went home.
(pause)
You know, people get pigeon holed all the time.
Some people call it “profiling”.
We all do it. We see someone and hear their voice and see them doing different things, and we form an opinion of who they are what they’re likely to do. Now, sometimes that’s not a bad thing, but other times, folks form unflattering opinions about us. But those opinions don’t have to shape who we are. We can ignore those who view us badly.
But if we profile ourselves…
If we decide there’s something wrong with us…
If we decide we’re not worth very much…
Then we can hurt ourselves badly.
What OTHERS think about us may not have much effect, but what we think about ourselves can shape who we are and who we become.
ILLUS: Norman Vincent Peale told of the time he was in Hong Kong. He said he passed by a tattoo parlor. In the window were displays of the types of tattoos available. There were all kinds of tattoos you could get: an anchor or flag or mermaid… or whatever.
But what struck him as odd was a tattoo you could buy that had just 3 words:
“Born to lose.”
He said: “I entered the shop… and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, ‘Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to lose, tattooed on his body?’
He replied, ‘Yes, sometimes.’
‘But, I just can’t believe — that anyone in his right mind would do that.’
“The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and in broken English said,
“Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind.’”
(Norman Vincent Peale “Power of the Plus Factor”)
What we think about ourselves shapes who we are and who we can become,
Someone once said: “Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, ‘I have failed three times,’ and what happens when he says, ‘I am a failure.’”
(S.I. Hayakawa, U.S. Senator from California from 1976 to 1983)
Can you tell the difference?
That’s how Mark MIGHT have ended up viewed himself.
He might have eventually seen himself nothing more than a failure.
Just a spoiled rich kid… who was born to lose.
And I think that’s why God put that those verses into the book of Mark
“A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, HE FLED naked, leaving his garment behind.” Mark 14:52-53
And I think that’s why God told us “… Paul did not think it wise to take (Mark), because he had DESERTED THEM in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.” Acts 15:38
You see, God wanted us to see who Mark had BEEN.
So that we could see who Mark became.
Like I said before: Mark doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention from theologians. He is seen as kind of a minor player compared to some of the “Big Names” in Scripture.
He’s just doesn’t seem to be all that important.
But that’s not true.
For example, did you realize that not everybody in the Bible got a book with their name on it.
There’s Matthew… and there’s Luke… and there’s John… and then there’s MARK!
Why on earth would God do that!
Why would God allow a book to be named after a nobody?
Well… the point is, God didn’t look at Mark as a nobody.
He NEVER looked at Mark that way.
In fact, God NEVER looks at ANY of us that way either.
And there’s two reasons that’s true:
First is this. As Christians God has a plan for our lives
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Once you became a Christian, God had things figured out for you to do.
Since that moment you had a purpose … a direction for you to go… a reason to live.
So, how come Mark did such a lousy job of meeting that purpose/goal for his life?
Well, the answer to THAT question is the whole purpose of Mark’s story.
You see – Mark HAD BEEN the spoiled rich kid nobody could depend upon.
But he didn’t stay that way.
Eventually Mark became the man you could count on.
You remember Paul’s refusal to take Mark on his missionary journey?
Later in his life, when Paul is in prison and knows he’s about to die for his faith, many of his so-called friends had deserted him. And so he writes to Timothy these words:
“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. GET MARK and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” II Timothy 4:9-11
Now, that's a change for you!
Paul was now depending on the man who had once disappointed him.
Mark’s presence was crucial at this difficult time in his Paul’s life.
In fact, Paul wasn’t the only major leader to depend on Mark in his ministry.
There are many scholars who believe the Apostle Peter and Mark were close friends, and that Peter was the source of Mark’s information when he wrote his gospel. So, if that’s true, even Peter came to rely on Mark as a person who he could trust.
How did that happen?
Well, obviously Mark changed.
And do you know why he changed?
Because God believed in him.
And because God changed him.
God doesn’t look at you as you are.
He looks at you as you can be IF you let Him work on you.
When you became a Christian God placed His Spirit inside of you, and ever since that time God’s Spirit has been working on your mind, changing your heart, tinkering with your spirit. God’s Spirit is inside you to change into what God knows you can become.
“You are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared in advance for you to do.”
You know, too often people look at others and see an unfinished product.
About 20 years ago I was at a seminar where the speaker put these letters up on the screen:
PBP GINFWMY
Does anyone know what these letters mean?
Of course you don’t – I haven’t told you yet. :)
It means: “Please Be Patient. God Is Not Finished With Me Yet.”
God's not finished with you yet.
You are an unfinished product.
So are all the Elders.
And so is this preacher.
And so are the Sunday School teachers.
And so is everyone else who comes to this church.
We are all unfinished products.
God will never be done tinkering with our hearts and our minds because He wants to make a masterpiece of your life.
So Mark changed because God didn’t look at him as a loser.
God saw him as an unfinished product.
The 2nd reason God never looks at us losers is because You and I are made in the image of God.
In Genesis 1:27 we’re told that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
I saw this cute little picture some time back
https://wackywonderfulwednesdays.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/11870943_1022791654412328_1428635988869519837_n.jpg
It says: “I know I’m somebody, ‘cause God don’t make no junk.”
Now you’re not going to get that message from this world, because this world isn’t all that keen on God. In fact, it rejects God. At its worst, many in this world embrace the humanistic view that rejects God’s existence completely. That view leaves us with the idea that you and are accidents of nature. According to that anti-theology, you have no more value than an amoeba or a snail on the ground.
But that’s not true.
You and I are made in the image of God, and because of that we have great value and potential because we have been born to greatness.
We were born of the King.
As the 8th Psalm declares: “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands…” Psalm 8:4-6
One person observed that “Evolution sees us as one step above apes. Scripture sees us as one step beneath angels.” Allen Webster.
Now, what that means is that not only you are made in the image of God… but so are the people (like Mark) who disappoint you who annoy you, who frustrate you.
It means that person in your family you can’t stand… they’re made in the image of God.
It means that the annoying person at work… they’re made in the image of God.
It means that the neighbor you that frustrates you … they’re made in the image of God.
Thus, how you treat them reflects something of how you think of God.
I know that sounds harsh, but it’s nonetheless true.
And we ALL struggle with this.
I struggle with it just as much as you do.
That’s one of the reasons Jesus said to love your neighbor, and to pray for and do good for those who misuse you and you don’t like.
Because inside of that person is the potential for greatness and power.
CLOSE: I want to close with this true story I read some time back about a preacher in New York who learned this lesson the hard way. He said it was an Easter Sunday morning and the church was hopping. They’d had a number of people come down front and they were talking to the counselors.
And he was personally worn out.
He sat down on the stage and loosened his tie (I did this as I talked) and then this man came up to him. He said:
“When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him.
I asked him, "What’s your name?"
"David."
"How long have you been on the street?"
"Six years."
"How old are you?"
"Thirty-two."
He looked fifty—his hair was matted, his front teeth were missing, wino, eyes slightly glazed.
"Where did you sleep last night, David?" "Abandoned truck."
I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking, I’ll give him some money. I won’t even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don’t give money to people; we take them to get something to eat. I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me.
He said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.”
Suddenly, the preacher began to weep and he wept so hard that David began to weep. And David collapsed against him and fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him.
And why did the preacher weep?
He said “I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. I was not seeing him the way God saw him.”
David became a Christian and from that day on Christ changed his life.
He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. The church gave him a place to live and hired him in the church to do maintenance; they even got his teeth fixed. They got into the hospital to be detoxed… a process that took 6 days.
And he was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital.
He spent that Thanksgiving at the preacher’s house. He also spent Christmas there. When they were exchanging presents, David pulled out a little thing, and he said, "This is for you." It was a little white hanky. It was the only thing he could afford.
A year later, David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. And the minute he took the mic and began to speak, the preacher said, "The man is a preacher."
It wasn’t long before they ordained David and he’s now an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey.
(from a sermon by Davon Huss on sermoncentral.com relating the story of F. Jim Cymbala who preaches at a church in the slums of New York)
Now, the point is this:
That man had come to church looking for Jesus.
He was a drunk and lived on the street and that preacher almost passes him off as a useless piece of humanity and would have given him a couple of bucks. All because he didn’t see what God sees: a man made in the image of God.
That’s our commission.
We are missionaries to our world.
All around us are people who see themselves as losers and worthless and don’t realize the value God has placed within their hearts. They’re all made in God’s image. It’s up to us to see the potential within and offer them Jesus.
INVITATION
