The Extract and Essence of Jesus Ministry
Introduction:
(From Harvey Conn - Planting and Growing Urban Churches) The house is for William and Mary Elliot, both in their sixties. Community residents for over forty-nine years, today, for the first time in their lives, they will own their home. Both are strong Christians. Mr. Elliott in particular will be bringing leadership skills to the block. As the first of twenty homes to be completely gutted and rebuilt on this block, this home’s dedication is a great day for the neighborhood.
At 3:30, the sound of gospel singing replaces the hocking and plocking of hammers. Outside the house on the street, more than 100 neighborhood residents, friends, and Habitat homeowners have gathered to celebrate the dedication. It is time to “have church,” time to celebrate the goodness of Jesus and acknowledge God as the builder.
As Millard Fuller, Habitat for Humanity’s founder, would say, “every house dedication is a living sermon, a tangible demonstration of God’s love and power.” Leading the service is LaVerne Cooper, co-executive director of Sandtown Habitat. She is particularly pleased this day; this house, which had been vacant for twenty years, had been her grandmother’s home. In fact, this is LaVerne’s old block; the vacant house next door was where she grew u. Now LaVerne, also a Habitat homeowner, is leading the way in rebuilding her former block.
At the vibrant dedication service, special music was provided by the New Song Community Learning Center Choir. Keys and a Bible were presented to the new homeowners. Other Habitat families presented flowers. Testimonies were offered by the Elliott’s, Epiphany volunteers, and other community leaders. Linking the testimonies was the realization that new relationships have been formed across immense racial, social, and spatial chasms. A closing prayer and house blessing was pronounced.
Finally, the moment has come to cut the ribbon. Buddy, a lifetime resident of Sandtown, joins Mr. Elliott and members of Epiphany for the honors. To cheers and clapping, the Elliott’s enter 1511 North Stricker Street, new homeowners. Life is affirmed; a community long put down is rising up.
Few events more vividly capture the heartbeat of ministry at New Song Community Church. Sandtown Habitat, one of more than 1000 Habitat affiliates, was begun inn 1990 by our congregation. Committed to being a Christian community development church, we have embraced the rebuilding of our neighborhood. Yes, a vacant house has been restored. But it is more than that. The community of faith gathered on Stricker Street is properly celebrating Easter – a message both heavenly and earthly. Reconciliation is being joined by resurrection. (Conn)
A debate has developed over the past century as to the purpose and ministry of the church in the world. After decades of disagreement, we find the majority of churches polarized around one of two extremes. Either they are so focused on meeting the needs of people that they are neglecting any form of evangelistic proclamation and so earning the title, liberal. Or they are so evangelism conscious that they rarely stoop from their pulpits to hear the cries on the street.
Both types of church would point to Jesus as their example. Both would champion their ministry as truly biblical. But neither seems to understand the other. The liberals seem all too content to provide space for food programs, English programs, community meetings and social gatherings even if the people who come don’t join the church or make a decision for Christ. The conservatives seem content to proclaim the gospel through every facet available to them, but seem helpless to alleviate anything more than a headache that walks through the door.
So, is there an answer for us? We at the Creston Baptist Church have begun more and more over the past few years to speak about the primacy of evangelism. But do we really know what will be required if we are to be effective? Fortunately we have before us a book filled with practical examples of how God chose to evangelize the world with his good news of salvation. Today we will seek to glean from the life of Jesus an understanding of how to reach the lost.
An analysis of the ministry of Jesus, in Mark 1:29-39, will motivate us to match social action with our preaching.
As we examine these ten verses, today we will see two elements of Jesus ministry clearly presented to us. First, we will discover the Extract of Jesus ministry – the distinct flavor that only Jesus could bring to the world. Then we will discover the Essence of Jesus ministry – the very core of what he came to do. When we are done today, we will have seen how Jesus effectively combined social action with preaching to impact his community.
I. The Extract of Jesus Ministry
One of the greatest tragedies I have witnessed in my time spent working with the homeless in inner city Toronto is the ineffectiveness of churches to reach the people on the street. As the youth group traveled through the city this past year our guide pointed out a Baptist Church on the corner of Girard Street and mentioned that this corner was known in Toronto as the place where most Crack Cocaine dealers could be found. In the middle of the day, we could see people in plain view who were so incapacitated by drug use they were passed out in the doorway of the church. An official looking sign on the side of the church stated the name and the times of service, but strangely, the doors were firmly closed and there was no one to be seen. Another church on King Street is a favorite location for prostitutes to wait for customers to pick them up – the few people still left at the church do what they can, but will tell you that it is difficult these days since all of their members have moved to the suburbs and found new churches to attend. Perhaps the greatest challenge to the inner-city evangelical missionary is trying to explain to his supporting churches why he’s spending his budget on food supplies and blankets when they expected him to be peddling bibles and tracts.
How different from what we find in Mark 1:29-34. Jesus is returning to Peter’s home from the Synagogue on the Sabbath day. Peter and Andrew, James and John accompany him, bubbling over, if salty fishermen can bubble, with excitement from Jesus amazing demonstration of power over the evil spirit in the synagogue. Indeed all of Capernaum will soon be buzzing with news of this carpenter’s son turned teacher. However, the excitement is muted as they enter the home of Peter and find no food prepared, instead there is news that Peter’s mother-in-law has been stricken with a burning fever.
Lets look at how Mark deals with this first miracle of Jesus’. “Simon’s mother in law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.” Mk 1:30-31. There is no great detail expended, in fact he takes only one verse, two sentences: ‘So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.’ (v.31). As Mark presents the story it Jesus seems as casual as he were simply introducing himself. Mark doesn’t point out that it was not considered proper in Jewish culture for a man to touch an unrelated woman, he doesn’t point out the double jeopardy of touching a sick woman, who is ritually unclean and he doesn’t capitalize on the fact that the healing took place on the Sabbath. In fact Mark doesn’t even include details about what Jesus said, the name Jesus doesn’t even appear in the verse.
Why? Why does Mark seem so non-chalant about this first miracle of Jesus? I believe it is because to Jesus, this was simply a natural part of what he had come to do. It was the flavor or the extract of his ministry.
Have you ever been in a blind taste-test? When you are given something to eat and asked to identify it? We could rightly say that most foods have a somewhat distinct taste, and by that taste, we know them. When an orange is squeezed orange juice pours out; pressing olives produces olive oil; tapping a maple tree produces maple sap. Each of these things produce extracts that reveal what they truly are.
What is the ministry of Jesus? Mark tells us in 1:14-15 that Jesus came proclaiming the good news of God that the kingdom of God is near. He came calling on people to repent and believe. But in the kingdom of God there can be no sin, nor can there be any sickness, weakness or failing. Jesus ministry was involved in undoing the effects of the fall. The effect of the fall was the presence of sin in the world, and with sin came death, sickness, suffering and Satan. To us the raising of Peter’s mother-in-law seems supernatural; to Jesus it was simply natural.
Isaiah prophesied that the coming Messiah would preach good news to the poor, that he would bind up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom for captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Jesus introduced himself with these very words in Nazareth and now in Capernaum we find the words being replaced with action.
As evening fell and the stars shone out of the Middle Eastern sky, the moonlight fell across a powerful scene. For as the Sabbath ended the entire community began to assemble outside Peter’s door. Slowly they came, some hobbling, some shuffling, some struggling bear the weight of a brother or husband. The blind, the deaf, the lame, the demon-possessed; every age and ailment made their way to the home of Peter the fisherman. And there in the cool of evening the young carpenter held court in the kingdom of God and every demon and disease fled in his presence. One by one, hour-by-hour Jesus must have worked a gentle touch, a quiet word, and a powerful presence. The message of the coming kingdom enrobed in human flesh.
Where was the sermon, I wonder, that evening? When did Jesus pause to preach? Is it possible that the Son of God was not healing in order to gain an audience? Let me be a little radical here and propose something a little different. Jesus was intentionally meeting people’s need where they felt it the most, he wasn’t doing it so that he could share the gospel with them, he was doing it because the need was there. Jesus didn’t meet people’s needs in order to further his own agenda, he met people’s needs because to do anything else would be contrary to his nature.
Just as demons fled from his presence, so also did sickness and death.
Dusk stretched to evening and evening stretched to night. Slowly the assembled masses dissipated and the new disciples drifted to sleep. Sometime during the early morning, Jesus passed from Peter’s home in search of a solitary place.
Brothers and sisters, let me ask you here, what is our extract? When we are squeezed what pours out? We preach a powerful message of love, forgiveness, salvation and new life, but if the community we live in judges us by what we do rather than what we say is it any wonder that the lost haven’t dragged themselves to the doors. Jesus healed because it was the nature of who he was, but if the nature of the church is to bear the message of salvation to our community shouldn’t we be seeking to touch people where they are most needy? Shouldn’t our priority be to expend ourselves finding and meeting the needs of our neighbours, not so we can preach to them, but just because there is a need and it is our nature to do it?
II. The Essence of Jesus Ministry
But this was only the extract of Jesus ministry, not the essence! There is tremendous difference between the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of the typical TV faith healer. Consider a few of the following: When TV healers touch people they fall down. When Jesus’ touched people, they got up. TV healers shout and strike. Jesus touches and speaks. TV healers wear fancy suits and expensive rings. Jesus wore sandals and had no place to lay his head. TV healers seek publicity, Jesus retreats to the wilderness to pray.
This is where the disciples found Jesus the morning after the miracle night. As could be expected the crowds had arrived in the morning seeking to see more of this miraculous man. But Jesus was nowhere to be found. You see Jesus was not about to mistake popularity with success. He knew that he had a job to do and the job was not to be the resident miracle worker of Capernaum.
Jesus had spent the wee hours of the morning in prayer. Only three times does Mark tell us that Jesus went away to pray, but each time great pressure was involved. Here and in chapter six, it is the pressure of popularity; in chapter fourteen, it is the pressure of the looming cross.
Jesus humanity is revealed in his times of prayer. Prayer is the posture of a human as he approaches his God. As the pre-incarnate Logos, did Jesus pray to the father? No, the communication was surely different. Nevertheless, as a man, Jesus felt the same struggles and strains you and I experience, and when he felt that weight, he went to prayer. Often we find that Jesus is struggling in prayer. In Gethsemane he asked that if it was possible that the cup of human sin pass from him, but adds the important words, ‘not my will, but yours be done.’ When he taught the disciples to pray, he taught them to ask that God’s kingdom would come and that his will would be done.
Prayer is not a means for humans to force a reluctant deity to do what he does not want to do. It is not a time for informing God of what God does not know. Prayer is for the benefit of the one who prays. It is the tool God uses to better inform us, better direct us, better help us to be conformed to God’s will. When we enter into prayer we ought to enter with the desire that God will move us into his will.
I am excited about the potential for prayer in our congregation of late. I believe that it is a time when we can look for God to move us into his will, to unite our hearts together in one purpose and not least of all for God to demonstrate his power to do more than we ask or think. We ought to pray more as a congregation, and as individuals.
We would do well to follow his example, for surely if the Son of God needed to take time for prayer and seeking God’s will, so do we.
Jesus response to the disciples is puzzling at first. Why not return to the crowd that have assembled, why press on into unknown territory. However, the answer is found in v. 38, Jesus had come to preach, to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God.
“Jesus knew that the only lasting cure for physical ailments was not the temporary reprieve of a healing now (only to die of something else later), but resurrection – the putting of human-kind into a condition where they are immune to disease, decay and death and no longer subject to the ravages of sin, suffering and sorrow. This is perhaps in part why Jesus is presented as saying in this very first chapter that in the main he came to proclaim the good news of the inbreaking of God’s dominion, not primarily to give temporary respite from a human condition that is eventually terminal anyway. Jesus is certainly not a reluctant healer, but on the other hand healing is not the focus of his mission.” (Witherington 106-107).
Conclusion: A challenge lies before us as a church. Jesus demonstrates by his action that meeting people’s needs was of tremendous importance and by his words that proclaiming the gospel was at the core of what he had come to do. In fact, there is no way to separate his preaching of the gospel from his living out in reality what he was talking about.
Yet, somehow, we have introduced a false dichotomy into the church. While the liberal churches work to meet people’s needs with social programs and what sometimes seems to be secular work, the evangelical churches pour their time into preaching the gospel and printing tracts to hang on their wall and distribute to any new comer that darkens the door.
We need to prayerfully ask God to show us how we can uncover the needs of our community and then show us how we can begin to meet those needs. Already some come to mind. The need for long-term care facilities is tremendous in Creston, yet the chance of any help coming from the government is slim, is there something that the church can do to alleviate the situation? The fact that many of the youth on our streets are in need of love and direction, but nothing exists for them, what could we do? There are certainly more concerns, where is the poverty in our community, what can we do about it.
Let me free you to search out needs in the community. Our greatest strength as the church is in our diversity and a plurality of gifts. You do not need to be a pastor in order to envision ways to reach the lost. You do not need to be an elder in order to lead. We are foolish if we limit ourselves in such ways. If we are ever going to be about evangelism we need to be about finding people and meeting their needs, both spiritual and physical.
Let me challenge you further, let this be something we do, not simply to gain a preaching platform, but because it is in our very nature to do it. For indeed if it is not in our nature to live out redemption, how dare we proclaim it.
