Carefully Taught
Mark 3: 20 - 35
Intro: 1949 – South Pacific – song that nearly derailed the debut of the musical. “You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear. You’ve got to be taught from year to year. It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear. You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be taught to be afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made and people whose skin is a different shade. You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are 6 or 7 or 8, to hate all the people your relative hate. You’ve got to be carefully taught.”
I. Think for a moment about what you have been carefully taught.
A. VS. 21 – When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” (Literally, Beside himself.) The family of Jesus thought he had to be out of his mind because of what he was doing.
B. When I told my mother I had decided to go to seminary, her response was, “The church has got to be really desperate.” --- You have to a little crazy to do this job. People watch you, squirm in your presence, keep you at arms length or hold you to a higher standard.
C. The family of Jesus came to “Take charge of him,” (Karatesai – to detain, retain, hold fast, or to lay hold of.) – They thought he was crazy, out of his mind, literally, “he has stood outside”. In the deep south – He’s been out in the sun too long.
II. VS. 22 – And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons his is driving out demons.
A. Prince of demons – no horns, no tail, not dressed in red. (DIAMONION – THOSE WHO RULE AND DIRECT HUMAN AFFAIRS.) What directs or rules you. What you’ve been carefully taught?
B. Satan knows all about us. He knows our deepest, darkest secrets, our deepest fears, sins and everything with which we struggle.
C. The same is true of the church. All too often churches appear to be divided houses. Places subject to the powers of hostility, recrimination and enmity between ideological groups and factions. Satan knows the things that can divide us: discrimination, materialism, militarism, power, racism and all the other “isms” we have been carefully taught by our family, relatives, churches or society.
III. VSS. 31 – 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asked. Who are our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers? What people comprise our family, our church? Who are the people who have carefull taught us?
A. VSS, 34 – 35 “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother. Jesus does not call us to forsake our families. Instead, we are called to discipleship, to serve God with our brothers and sisters of faith.
B. As Christians, we have a new family. It is composed of all the people that Christ Jesus calls us to serve. Such as the homeless, the hungry, the misfits etc.
C. After my mother died I went to PA to clean out her house. My cousin said to me, “I don’t’ understand how you can just turn your back on your family and your home to go and live so far away.” Your natural family may not understand you; but, in Christ we have a new family that is not always perfect, nor do we all agree with one another. But the one thing we must do is love each other because we are IN CHRIST.
Conclusion: If we are truly IN CHRIST, CHRIST IS IN US! Christ Jesus does not promise riches; rather, we are called to live amongst those who love Jesus in this community. We are called to be the family of Christ where the misfits, the crazies and rejected of society come to find acceptance, healing, wholeness and love. This I believe is what God is calling me and you to be and do. --- You must let go of the past so that we can move into the future as a united family that loves each other in spite of our differences.
